Live!
by The Psyche of Azarath
Summary: Taken from their homes, Raven and Danny are thrust into an unstable environment where each day is a grueling battle for survival. As Danny struggles to keep himself and a powerless and paralyzed Raven alive without using his powers, the entire world watches their ordeal; episode by episode. Pre The End. Post TUE
1. And In Color

And In Color

Robin smiled lazily as he watched his teammates relax. It was the perfect day. It was already mid-afternoon and there hadn't been a single emergency the entire day. Starfire had used this rare peace as an opportunity to teach Silky what to eat and what not to eat. Cyborg had completely overtaken the kitchen table, drawing schematics for a new ride for Beast Boy. The shape shifter had been so excited that he ran to his room, determined to scour through the mess to find his own original plans. Robin himself had used the opportunity to catch up on the news.

He smiled more. He knew exactly what Raven would say if she could see him now. _"Working even during a break, aren't you?"_

Speaking of which, where was Raven?

As soon as that thought entered his mind it was pushed out. She was probably just using the opportunity to meditate. She was complaining of a throbbing headache last night.

Robin was pulled out of his musings when the doors slid open. He looked up, expecting to see Raven but instead a confused and anxious Beast Boy stood there.

"Uh, guys? Has anyone seen Raven?" he asked.

Robin frowned and put his newspaper down. "You mean she's not in her room?" he asked.

Beast Boy shook his head. "I checked. Her bed was freshly made. I don't think she slept in it last night or this morning."

"Are you sure man?" Cyborg asked.

Beast Boy nodded. "I checked dude. She hasn't been in her room since yesterday." He said tapping his nose for emphasis.

"Perhaps she went out." Starfire suggested. "Did she leave a note?"

"Nothing."

Robin's frowned deepened. "Cyborg I'm going to need you to look through the surveillance footage AS-"

Robin was cut off sharply when the television snapped out with a screech of static.

/

"Jazz honey! Could you tell Danny dinner will be ready in five?" Maddie Fenton hollered from downstairs.

With a sigh, Jazz Fenton rolled off of her bed and went to her brother's room. She knocked on the door.

"Dinner's in five minutes little brother." She said through the door.

There was no response. Jazz shrugged, figuring Danny was out ghost funny. If he's late, she'll cover for him.

Twenty minutes later he was still nowhere to be found and Jazz's façade was failing.

"So, you said Danny went to Sam's house?" Jack asked.

"Yup." Jazz said nervously.

Maddie frowned. "To work on a school project?" she asked.  
"Yup."

"Well he should have at least called." Jack said dejectedly.

"That just mean more fudge for us! Right Dad?" Jazz asked.

"I like the way you think Jazzy-pants!"

"Remind me to ground Danny when he gets home hun." Maddie said.

Jazz didn't even bother to salvage the situation. She and Danny had a home-before-dinner policy. If he was willing to break that, he could get grounded for all she cared.

The silence was shattered by the TV turning on with a screech of static.

/

"Greetings people of Earth!" An overweight balding redhead man shouted on the screen. "I, Control Freak, master of all thing television, am broadcasting to you live on every electronic device on Earth!"

He seemed rather proud of himself for that. "I am proud to present to you a new and exciting series starring none other than Raven, the mystic sorceress of the Teen Titans," he said as a picture of Raven in mid-flight, eyes glowing white, appeared on the screen.

"And this geek I found in some small town in Illinois. Fenton, I think" he said indifferently as a picture of Danny in mid-fall filled the screen for an instant.

Almost immediately, Control Freak's face reappeared. "There's a twist of course. I have injected Raven with a special blend of chemicals that not only renders her powerless, but completely paralyzed! Now, our hero has no choice but to let the zero save her. And the best part is that they have no idea the whole _world_ is watching!"

Control Freak squealed. "This is so exciting!" His tone change. "Oh, and Titans? This is all going on in my own modified environment. If you interfere in any way, the show will be terminated. Permanently."

He brightened up again. "And now ladies and gentlemen, I present….. Live!"

/

Raven's eyes fluttered open and slammed shut again. Her head _hurt._ The sun was _bright._ She opened her eyes slowly, adjusting to the light, until she found herself staring at a sky outlined by tree branches. She realized she was in a forest for some reason. Had Robin done this as some kind of training exercise? Raven tried getting up…and found she couldn't move anything from the neck down. The situation suddenly turned darker for her. Here she was, unknown territory, powerless and paralyzed from the waist down and she did the first thing that came to mind.

"HELP!" she hollered.

"Gaah!" she heard from nearby, as if she just woke someone up.

There was a rustling of leaves and suddenly the sky was replaced by someone's face. It was a boy, around her age. He had pale skin and messy black hair. He shockingly blue eyes looked over her in curiosity.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"You don't know who I am?" Raven asked.

"Should I?" the boy asked examining her critically.

Raven blinked. This boy didn't know who she was? "I'm Raven." She answered. "Who're you?"

"Danny." He replied. "Do you know where we are Raven?" he asked.

"Not a clue in the slightest."

Danny looked around. "It looks like a forest. The sparse kind they have on the outskirts of a town."

"Why would we be here?"

He stood up and looked down at Raven, shrugging. "Dunno. The best thing we can do to find out is start walking." He reached down, grabbed Ravens hand and hoisted her up.

"Danny, wait. You don't-"

Danny let her go and almost immediately Raven crumbled to the ground in a tangle of her own arms and legs.

"Are you okay?" Danny asked kneeling to check on her.

"Apparently, I've been paralyzed from the neck down and my powers are gone." She deadpanned.

"Powers?" Danny asked with wide blue eyes. "You have powers? What kind of powers?"

"The kind that aren't working right now." Raven said drily. "You need to focus Danny. How are we going to move if I can't even turn my neck?" she asked.

Danny surveyed the surroundings and looked thoughtful. "Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back." He said as he moved out of Raven's range of vision.

"Not like I have much of a choice." She grumbled. She heard a lot of rustling from where Danny had gone.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Well, my dad made me join the boy scouts and the only thing I was good at was arts and crafts. So I thought I'd finally make use of that." He said. "Besides, it'd be absolutely diabolical of me to just ditch you"

Raven rolled her eyes. "It's nice to know chivalry isn't dead." She said.

He went over to Raven and dragged her so she leaned against a tree. "So I built this." Danny said proudly.

Raven cringed when she saw it. Danny had made some kind of…carrier out of vines. It reminded her of something an overenthusiastic father would carry his child in.

"No way." She said.

Danny deflated. "C'mon Raven. Give it a shot. It's secure. I promise." He said.

"It's degrading."

"It's not like anyone's watching Rae." He said. "Besides, how else am I going to lug you around?" he asked.

Raven sighed defeated. He had a point. "Fine." She said.

She allowed Danny to pick her up and settle her into the carrier. He bent over her, tying several of the vines together as some kind of seatbelt. His hands fluttered around her waist and his hair tickled her chin. Danny picked up the carrier surprisingly easily and strapped it to himself.

"How does it feel?" he asked straightening out.

Her legs dangled limply out of the holes Danny left and her cheek was on his back. She blushed at the utter indecency of it all.

"Humiliating." She deadpanned.

"At least you didn't say you weren't comfortable." He said,

"Well, here we go." He said and he started walking.

/

"So, where are you from?" he asked.

"Are you trying to make small talk?" Raven asked. "Please don't."

"I myself am from Amity Park, that's in Illinois." He said, completely ignoring her. Raven rolled her eyes.

"It would be an okay town if it weren't for one thing." Danny said as he leapt over a small stream.

"And what's that?" Raven asked, playing along.

"It's haunted." Danny said. "My parents built a portal to the Ghost Zone and, well, it leaks."

"That must be horrible for business." Raven remarked.

"Not really." Danny said as they trudged up a small hill. "There's this other ghost, Phantom, who makes it his job to protect us."

"Sounds like you guys have your own town hero." Raven said.

"Yeah, I guess." Danny said. "What about you?"

"You honestly have no idea who I am. Do you?" Raven asked.

"Nope."

"Ever heard of the Teen Titans?" she asked.

Danny was quiet foe a moment, pondering. "Oh yeah. That superhero team from California! My friend Tucker's absolutely nuts about you guys. He seriously looks up to Cyborg." He said.

"Yeah, well, I'm a member of it."

"Huh. It's funny how I forgot. I almost never forget a face. Especially one like yours." He said absently.

"Is that an insult?"

"No."

Raven blushed and blamed it on the humidity.

Danny looked up. "Would you look at that? It's already dark out. I guess we should call it a night." He said.

He unstrapped the carrier and pulled Raven out of it, propping her up against a tree. Raven realized it was indeed dark out, she could barely see her hands. She also realized they were in some sort of sparse clearing, with a few shrubs littered around. Danny settled down next to her.

"So, what now?" he asked.

Raven sighed. "Let's just get some sleep. We'll think about what to do in the morning." She said. She felt her body slouching up against her. "Could you lay me on the ground, please?" she asked.

"Sure." Danny said, doing just that.

He lay down next to her as they both stared at the night's sky.

"Huh." He said.

"What is it?" Raven asked.

"I know one thing about where we are." Danny said. "It's not natural, not by Earth standards."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

"The constellations are wrong. Big and Little Dipper are facing the wrong way, Orion's belt is in the oriented differently. Heck, the North star is in the east." He said pointing them out for Raven's benefit.

Raven was impressed. "How can you tell?"

"I want to be an astronaut when I grow up. Having the constellations under your thumb is an unspoken requirement." He said.

A comfortable silence passed between them. It lasted so long Raven thought Danny had fallen asleep until he spoke.

"I've got a bad feeling about this place." He said.

He wasn't the only one.

/

"There you have it, viewers!" Control Freak blared taking up the whole screen. "Our stars have realized all is not right with their situation. But they're safe. For the moment." He said ominously. "Tomorrow, they face their first challenge. Don't miss the next episode of…Live!" he announced.

Control Freak snickered. "It's not like you have much of a choice."

/

As every screen in the world faded to black, Robin frowned.

"Change of plans." He said. "Cyborg. I need you to contact the Fenton family. Try and see if there's any reason why their son would be dragged into this."

"Friend Robin, Control Freak warned us not to interfere." Starfire said tentatively.

"Well, we can't just sit here and do nothing!" Robin barked. "Who knows what Control Freak has in store for them?"

"Dude, there's nothing we can do except watch." Beast Boy said.

Robin scowled. If there's one thing he hated, it was not being able to do anything. But it seemed like it was the only thing he could do.

"Yo Rob, I've got the Fentons." Cyborg said.

"Put them on speaker."

/

"Jack! Do you know what this means?" Maddie exclaimed.

"I do Mads." Jack said solemnly. "My son is a star!" he exclaimed.

"Jack! No! He's in danger and there's nothing we can do to help him." Maddie said tearfully.

"Don't worry Mom. Danny can take care of himself. He is a Fenton, after all." Jazz said comfortably.

At that moment the front door burst open and a frantic Sam and Tucker rushed in. The spoke simultaneously. "Mr. and Mrs. Fenton! Did you see-"

"Yes, we saw. The whole world saw!" Maddie said.

"Well, what can we do?" Sam asked.

"We could try contacting the Titans." Tucker offered. "Maybe they-"

He was cut off by the phone ringing. Jazz answered it.

"Hello?" she asked. Her eyes widened. "Just a second. I'll put you on speaker."

She set the phone down and pressed the speaker button.

"This is Robin of the Teen Titans speaking." An authoritative voice said. "Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, I was wondering if there was any reason why your son would be thrown into this?" he asked.

"Not that we know of. Danny stays out of trouble." Maddie said.

Sam, Tucker and Jazz wore guilty looks but said nothing.

"Well, we certainly can't sit and do nothing." Robin said. "We're working on tracking Control Freak down. We just need your help to figure out a way to help them without being detected."

"We'll do all it takes to get our son back." Jack said.


	2. We're Going to Need a Bigger Boat

Dear readers,

Wow! The reception for this story was amazing! I mean, 12 favorites in just a day?! I this chapter this early just for you guys. The story is inspired by the fanfic _Stranded with My Class_ in the sense of the whole global coverage thing and _Reality Once Made Sense_ for the whole crossover thing. I won't make this an uber-powerful-Danny-weak-as-wet-toilet-paper-Raven fic. Raven is _badass as shit,_ just incapacitated. Now for the Reviews!

 **Guntherson962:** You're faith in this story is highly appreciated. Kudos have been received with glee.

 **UltimateTouken:** I haven't really considered that…it's a good concept. Deliciously awkward.

 **Phantom-Thunder:** Thank you for that. I thought the first chapter fell a little flat. Maybe this will make up for it.

 **Germanyusaman1997:** Danny and Raven are the stars. Everyone else will play minor roles. No one will be dragged in there with them.

 **Jessica Jayme Bell:** I have a problem with _Wykkyd_. If you or anyone else have any ideas for future chapters, maybe something like the shenanigans Kyd and Raven get into when Raven takes him through secret hero training, it would be greatly appreciated.

And now, another episode of…. _Live!_

We're Going to Need a Bigger Boat

The next day in Amity Park was considered a holiday. Actually, Amity was in a state of indefinite holiday. The mayor had declared at a press conference that no man, woman or child was to go to work or school until Danny Fenton was back. The result was every person in Amity staying at home, constantly watching the tube for the next installment. " _Live!"_ was getting international coverage from every major news station in the world. It was all the world could talk about. Everyone was abuzz for it.

Except for the Fenton family.

In spite of immense pressure from local and foreign news station, they absolutely refused to make any public statements. Sam and Tucker stood steadfastly beside them, helping to ward off the reporters with homemade stink bombs. They had to barricade themselves in their house, Sam and Tucker included, sealing the doors and tinting the windows to ward off any nosy reporters. As a result, they were now prisoners in their own home.

Not that they noticed.

They were much too busy working hand-in-hand with the Titans, trying to find a way to help Danny and Raven without endangering their lives. It was proving to be much more difficult than they thought. Even having worked tirelessly through the night, the combined efforts of Cyborg and Maddie hadn't even been able to find out where the transmission was coming from.

Of course, as soon as the TV turned to static, they all huddled around it, eager to see how Danny and Raven were doing.

/

Raven woke up feeling a slight tingling in her fingertips. She focused as hard as her foggy mind would allow and managed to twitch a finger. Raven instantly felt a rush of accomplishment. It wasn't much, but it was something. She was still flat on her back in the clearing, staring up at the early morning sky. Dawn was just breaking, the sky turning a pale purple as a result. It reminded her of her mornings in the Tower. She'd normally be able to get in an hour of early morning meditation before going to the kitchen for tea. She would always meet Robin there already, drinking a cup of strong coffee. They would usually sip their drinks in silence until the others woke up and the morning really began.

She was going to make whoever did this pay.

As soon as she could move.

But for now, it was time to wake up Danny.

"Danny!"

"Gaah!" he shouted a little way away from her. He must've rolled away in his sleep.

There was a rustling of grass and Danny's face was over hers. His hair was disheveled and full of blades of grass and twigs. He was on his hands and knees.

"Could you not wake me up like that anymore?" he asked.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Sorry. Maybe when I get feeling in my body again I'll just nudge you awake." She said sarcastically.

Danny ignored her and pulled a twig out of his hair.

"What's the plan for today?" Raven asked.

Danny looked at her in surprise. "Why are you asking me? You're the hero?" he asked.

"Who just happens to be powerless and paralyzed, in case you haven't noticed. It's your job to get us out of here." She said.

"Oh." Danny said blinking. "Well then, I'm going to climb a tree and try and get a better look at this place." He said.

He stood up, dusted himself off, and went out of Raven's vision.

The camera followed him as he went to the edge of the clearing, examining the trees. They looked stable enough, except for the fact that the lowest branches were twice as high up as he was tall. He frowned and looked over his shoulder at Raven. Convinced she couldn't possibly see him from where she lay on the grass, he jumped, using a little flying boost to land him on one of the branches of a tree. Looking down again to make sure she hadn't noticed, Danny continued climbing.

The tree didn't look that tall from the ground. He estimated it to be four times his height. The climb however, lasted a long time. When he finally reached the top, he was a bit dismayed to see that except for a broad river about twenty feet from the clearing, there was nothing but forest. A little downhearted, he jumped from the tree, using his flight to slow the descent.

"I've got good news and bad news." He said as he approached Raven. He propped her up against a tree branch and sat across from her.

"What's the bad new?" she asked.

Danny looked at her in curiosity.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing." Danny said. "It's just that most people want to hear the good news first."

"I don't like getting my hopes up before they're crushed." She said.

"Huh. Well, the bad news is I see absolutely nothing but forest." Danny said.

"Nothing?"

"Not a thing."

Raven sighed and looked up at the sky. "What's the good news?" she asked.

"There's a river about twenty feet from here."

Raven's eyes snapped back to his face. "A river?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah. It didn't look very deep. I figured we could float downstream and try and find civilization."

"How would we do that?" Raven asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe we could ride on a log or something." He said.

"And how would I be able to hold on?" Raven asked.

Danny blushed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He hadn't thought that far. Embarrassed, he stood up abruptly.

"So, what do you say?" he asked, avoiding her question.

"It's not like I have much of a choice." Raven said with a sigh.

Danny smiled. "Great! I'll just get the carrier and-"he stopped abruptly.

"What's wrong?" Raven asked.

"It's gone." Danny said.

"What?"

"The carrier's gone."

A deep sense of unease fell on Raven. "Let's get out of here." She said.

"Agreed." Danny said.

He bent down and picked Raven up bridal style. Her head lolled forward, making her chin touch her chest. Her arms were folded on her stomach and her legs dangled limply. Danny grinned down at her.

"What are you smiling at?" she asked.

"Look at you. You're like a Raven ragdoll!" he said.

"I'll have you know that I can twitch my fingers now." Raven said with a scowl.

"You won't sell with that look on your face." Danny joked.

"Just move."

/

When they reached the river, Raven had one question.

"So how are we going to do this? I obviously can't swim." Raven said.

"That is a good question." Danny said looking around them. "Whoa."

"What is it?" Raven asked.

He adjusted Raven so she could see a massive tree. At its base were giant leaves, each the size of a small boat. Danny looked down at Raven with a mischievous grin.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked.

"No. No Danny. This is a horrible idea." Raven said.

"Ah don't be such a stick in the mud. It'll be fun." He said setting her on the ground against a log.

He went over to the base of the tree and grabbed one of the leaves. He pulled it so it was halfway in the slow moving river. He ran back for Raven, picked her up gently and deposited her onto the leaf boat. Danny got in behind her, allowing Raven's head to fall against his chest and holding her securely with his thighs. Raven blushed at the close contact and was thankful he couldn't see her face.

"I hereby christen this craft the S.S. Fenton and-"

"Just shove off." Raven interrupted.

"Ouch." Danny said in fake hurt. Using his arms he shoved hard against the ground, propelling them into the water. He gripped the petiole securely with both hands, using it as a steering wheel. The water was calm and the river flowed slowly, not an obstacle was in sight, the sky was clear. It was smooth sailing.

"This isn't so bad." Raven said.

"Told you." Danny said. "Nothing could possibly go wrong now." He said.

Suddenly the sky darkened and there was a clap of thunder. The water was flowing faster.

Raven groaned. "You shouldn't have said that!"

Danny quickly swerved the boat to the left to avoid a huge rock.

"That wasn't there a minute ago!" he exclaimed as he tried to keep the leaf steady in the rushing waters.

Raven gasped as she looked ahead. What had previously been a clear, calm expanse of water was now…

"White water rapids!" she exclaimed.

Their frail leaf-boat was sucked into the churning waters. Danny struggled with the petiole, swerving sharply to dodge boulders that seemed to come out of nowhere. Raven was being thrown back and forth harshly by the momentum of the sharp swerves. She quickly became dizzy and disoriented. The churning water, passing boulders and Danny's grunts as he forced their boat to move all blended into one foggy, indistinct mix. The only thing Raven saw clearly was a massive boulder that seemed to block the entire river and left only two slim, fast moving streams at either side for the water to flow.

Danny abandoned the petiole and gripped Raven tightly, turning his back to the boulder. He hit it with a shockwave that made Raven's teeth chatter. The leaf completely ripped apart and they both went tumbling into the icy water. They were sucked passed a slim stream along the side of the boulder. The force of the current ripped Raven from Danny's grip and she was sent tumbling through the water.

Danny swam after her frantically but no matter how hard he stroked, Raven seemed to move faster. She was facing him, eyes wide with such fear it spurned Danny on to swim faster and ignore his burning lungs. When he got close enough he grabbed her by the tip of her cloak. He pulled her close against himself, using his body to cover her.

Her eyes were closed. His lungs were _burning._ They needed to get out _now._

He swam to the surface, bursting out with a gasp of air. They were still being dragged along, but at least they were at the surface. Danny used one hand to swim towards the river bank and one to hold Raven's head above the water. Danny's arm was sore, his lungs were burning, and he was freezing from the water, but he didn't care. He needed to get them to shore.

Danny grabbed a protruding branch and held fast. With a yell, he threw Raven onto the river bank hard enough so she rolled a good distance away from the water. Using his flight as a boost, Danny hurtled himself out of the water and landed close to Raven.

Without even stopping to catch his breath, he scrambled over to raven on his hands and knees and flipped her onto her back. She was deathly pale and absolutely freezing. She wasn't breathing either.

Danny swore and put two fingers against her neck. She still had a pulse, but it was weak and fading.

"C'mon Fenton. Remember what Lancer taught you about CPR. CAB, compressions, airway, breathe." Danny said.

He put his palms on her chest, one on top of the other, and pushed down rapidly ten times. He quickly pinched her nose and pulled it so her mouth opened. Pressing his lips on hers, he forced air from his lungs into hers. Not missing a beat, he started again.

Compressions.

Airway.

Breathe.

Compressions.

Airway.

Breath.

Compressions.

Airway.

 _Breathe._

Suddenly Raven coughed, puking water all over Danny. He immediately turned her over to her side, so the water would flow out easier.

"Ugh…Danny?" she asked.

Danny enveloped her in a hug. "You're okay! Ohmigosh, for a second there I thought-"

"You idiot." Raven deadpanned.

Danny stopped hugging her and held her at arms-length. "Excuse me?"

"You never, _ever_ say 'nothing could possibly go wrong'! Things will absolutely go wrong like they just did!" she exclaimed.

"No they didn't. Sure we're all wet, a little bruised, but at least I saved our lives." He protested.

"Our lives wouldn't have been in danger in the first place if you hadn't jinxed the moment." Raven said.

"Yeah, well, you're still alive so your argument is invalid." Danny said. He looked behind her. "There's something wiggling in the hood of your cloak." He said.

Using one hand to pull Raven against his chest, he reached into the hood and pulled something out. He held Raven out at arms-length again and held two medium sized fish out in front of her. He grinned.

"See? You even caught us fish. This wasn't so bad." He said. He propped her up against a boulder. "You hang here. I'll start a fire."

Raven watched him as he went around gathering twigs and arranging them for the fire. She watched him as he patiently smash two rocks together and nursed the fire to life. Danny Fenton puzzled her. He had just save them from violent white water rapids and was acting like nothing happened. There was no unstoppable shaking that comes when someone has just been through a terrifying experience. He seemed cool and collect, but Raven could see his eyes clouded with thoughts as he cooked the fish. He was just as worried and anxious as she was, although he didn't show it.

Raven was pulled from her thoughts when Danny held a fish on a stick in her face. "Take a bite." He said.

"I can feed myself." Raven insisted. Danny retracted the fish.

"Oh really?" he asked with an eyebrow raised in amusement.

Raven focused but only managed to twitch her fingers.

"I knew it." Danny said, holding the fish up to her mouth again.

Raven took a hesitant bite. The two ate in silence as the fire crackled and the sun set, each thinking their own thoughts. Danny was wondering how he was going to make it through this with his secret still intact. He pondered telling Raven straight up. After all, she was a professional superhero, the most secretive one of the Titans in fact. She should be able to keep it a secret. And yet a part of him, the Fenton part, was against the entire idea. But still, it would make this whole thing a lot easier if he just told her.

"Thank you." Raven said.

"What?" Danny said as he snapped out of his musings.

"Thank you." Raven repeated. "For pulling my limp, useless self out of that river and forcing air back into my lungs."

Danny detected a hint of bitterness in what she said. "Hey, you're not useless. Just…incapacitated." He said softly.

"Thanks." Raven said. "But it took some serious strength and stamina to do what you just did."

Danny blushed, suddenly nervous. "Yeah, well, my parents are the town's ghost hunters. I guess they rubbed off on me." He said.

"Really?" Raven asked. "So they help Phantom protect the city?"

"No. They kinda protect the city and hunt Phantom at the same time."

"Why would they do that? He's helping you guys." Raven said.

Danny sighed. "My parents have this mentality that ghost are evil. That the only thing they feel is rage and hatred for the living. They really hunt any and every ghost. I just wish they could see Phantom is different." He said sadly.

Raven sensed she had touched and said nothing more. The two continued eating in silence.

"Would you look at that…" Danny said.

"What?" Raven asked.

"The river."

Raven looked at the river and gasped. What had previously been a churning strip of rocky water was now as calm as it had been earlier, not a boulder in sight.

"We seriously need to get back home. ASAP." Danny said.

"Agreed."

/

"There you have it ladies and gentlemen!" Control Freak shouted as his face filled every screen in the world. "The latest installment of the new sensation that's sweeping the nation!"

He gave an over exaggerated bow. "Thank you. I know it's awesome." He straightened himself up.

"So, my victims had our first brush with danger today. Raven nearly died in the process which was something I totally meant to do." He said hurriedly.

"But!" He said pointing a finger at the cameras. "Let's see if they'll still live on the next episode of….Live!"

/

The Fenton's, Sam and Tucker sat staring at the black television screen with a mixture of relief and confusion.

"Since when can Danny jump that high?" Jack asked.

"He-uh-has great lower body strength." Tucker said.

"I'm so proud of my boy! He was such a hero!" Maddie exclaimed. "We have to get him out of there before he or Raven get really hurt." She said, changing to overprotective mother mode.

"Agreed." Sam and Jazz said.


	3. I Gotta go Raven, We've Got Tornadoes

**Dear fans,**

Thanks so much for reading, favving, following or reviewing.

I apologize if my description of the Danny Phantom characters fall flat. It's not my fandom (TT is) but I do love the characters. Just that I can't see Danny with anyone except Raven, crossover or not.

In my original draft for this I had no intention of involving what the Titans and Fentons think while the show is going on. I basically planned for a solid recount of their experience without _any_ other dialogue or mention from other characters, just Danny and Raven and no one else. I have since changed my mind, but have kept the interference to a minimum. _Live!_ needs to run its course.

And now for the reviews…

 **Guest:** I have no idea who you are but the whole food-not-attacking thing is a wonderful idea. Thanks for it.

 **The Brod Road:** The OOC-ness has been noted and will be toned down. Thanks for the whole intentional/unintentional pop culture titles idea. As you might notice I changed chapter two from 'River Troubles' to 'We're Going to Need a Bigger Boat'.

I absolutely adore reviews more than favorites. BTW.

Double BTW: The chapter title is a modified line from the movie _Tornado_ from the late '90s

And now another episode of… _Live!_

I Gotta Go Raven, We've Got Tornadoes

When Danny and Raven woke up their environment had changed completely. The forest had vanished and the river was nowhere to be seen. There wasn't even a trace of the fire they set the night before. Instead, they were in a grassland with grass as high as Danny's knees. There was nothing but grass and boulders for as far as any of them could see. The sky was a dark stormy grey and there was a slight breeze.

Danny frowned as he surveyed their new environment. "How's your paralysis?" he asked.

Raven tried moving and managed to bend her arms. "I can move my arms and fingers pretty well, but my torso and legs are still out of it." She reported.

"We need to move." He said. He turned to look at her. "Fireman or bridal?" he asked.

Raven looked up at him confused. "What do you-"

Rather abruptly, Danny picked Raven up and flung her over his shoulder, carrying her fireman style. He started walking rather briskly over the grassy plain.

"Hey! How rude!" Raven protested. "You can't just pick me up like that!"

"Sorry Rae." Danny apologized. "I just want us to get out of here as fast as possible. To a safer, less eerie, environment."

Raven huffed. She hated to admit it because she was annoyed, but he was right. She wanted to get to a different environment too.

"Don't call me Rae." She grumbled.

Danny didn't seem to have heard her. "I mean, I just don't understand it. Who would bring us here and not make a dramatic appearance? What is up with this place anyway?"

"Danny."

"I mean, what's up with all the freak environment changes?"

"Danny?"

"What are we even-"

" _Danny._ " Raven hissed.

That managed to snap Danny out of his rant. "Oh, sorry about that. What were you saying?"

"Look behind you."

Danny turned around, gasped, and very nearly dropped Raven.

While he was ranting, he didn't even notice that the wind had picked up. Instead of the slight breeze that they had started out with, it was now a strong gale. It whipped the grass on the plain in various directions and even uprooted some of the grass. The sky had darkened as well. It was a darker grey than any sky Danny had ever seen before. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was what he saw in the distance. A tall, narrow column of swirling wind with a single pin-point tip where it touched the ground. He had never seen one in real life, but he knew what it was on sight.

"T-Tornado!" he exclaimed.

He turned round abruptly and ran as fast as his legs could carry him, using a slight flying boost to propel himself so slightly that Raven wouldn't notice, but enough that it made a difference. Not that Raven noticed anyway. With the combined effect of the rush of blood to her head and the bouncing as a result of Danny's running, she was slightly disoriented at the moment. But she did notice the thin tornado barreling towards them at unbelievable speeds, sucking up everything, even the boulders, in its wake.

"C-ca-an't y-you r-run a-any f-fa-aster?!" she asked loudly.

"I'm kinda carrying a heavy load here!" he shouted over the roar of the wind.

Raven world have been offended if it weren't for the fact that the tornado was now dangerously close. Her cloak was almost chocking her as hit billowed in the direction of the tornado.

"Run faster!" she shouted.

Danny really regretted not coming clean with Raven sooner. His legs were aching, his lungs burned, and he wanted more than anything to burst into his full 112mph speed. But he didn't, because she would probably kill him for not coming clean when they reached safer ground. So for now, he settled for pushing his already tired body faster and increased his flight boost.

"Run to the left!" he barely heard Raven shout from behind him.

Danny instantly acted, just in time to avoid a boulder that slammed into the ground where he stood just moments before.

The tornado was getting closer. The wind was roaring in their ears and the flying grass was obstructing their vision. As soon as Danny released that his prolonged airtime was more due to the suction of the tornado than his flight, he realized it was practically on top of them. He realized it would be completely useless to keep running away from it.

So he made a hard left tuen, severely altering their course away from the tornado. There wasn't any proper shelter, like a garage or something, that could shield them from the debris. But there were boulders, plenty of boulders. So Danny made a beeline straight for the nearest one that was out of the way of the tornado. He leaped behind it and took Raven off his shoulder, pulling her against himself and sheltering her with his body.

"What are you doing?! Keep running!" she exclaimed.

"I just can't keep running! There's no way to outrun a natural disaster!" he shouted.

Their faces were exceptionally close. Even in the roaring wind, his voice made Raven's ears hurt a little. His icy blue eyes were so close to her she could see the details of his irises. His eyes were wide with panic and…guilt? Danny looked up over the boulder and was shocked to see the tornado had sharply changed direction, turning on a dime and heading straight for them. He quickly ducked behind the boulder.

"I can get us out of this, but I need you to trust me." He said.

Raven looked at him in bewilderment for a beat. She slapped him across the face as hard as her still paralyzed body would permit.

"What on Earth and Azarath makes you think I don't trust you already?!"

Danny was shocked that he had just been slapped across the face, but he felt…warm at the fact that Raven trusted him.

"Alright. Hang on." He shifted to a crouch and was about to take off when Raven was suddenly ripped from his hand, flying towards the roaring tornado.

He acted quickly and gripped Raven by the tip of her cloak and bracing himself against the boulder. She looked at him, eyes wide with fear. Danny gripped her cloak with both hands, using his legs to brace himself against the boulder.

"Hold on Raven!" he shouted. He started pulling on her cloak, fighting the tornado's suction and pulling her closer.

"No, wait!" Raven shouted. "Don't pull my cl-"

The clasp on her cloak unfastened.

Raven and Danny stared at each other for a split second, both of their eyes wide in fear, before Raven was sent hurtling into the roaring tornado.

"Raven!" Danny exclaimed. Quickly clasping the cloak around his own shoulders, he kicked off from the ground, straight into the tornado.

/

"Danny!" Jazz exclaimed.

"He's crazy! He can't fight a tornado! It's a force of nature!" Sam exclaimed.

"You gotta admit, this wouldn't be the first time he's done it." Tucker mumbled.

Jack and Maddie didn't say anything. Maddie was much too busy heaving heart-wrenching sobs. Jack was much too busy trying to stay strong for his wife.

/

Inside the tornado was a nightmare. Danny was being swirled around haphazardly, blades of grass were whipping around him so fast they cut his skin and ripped at his clothes. For several seconds he was tossed around so much he didn't know which way was up. Then he saw a flash of purple hair somewhere in the whirlwind.

Danny immediately used his flight to propel himself towards Raven. He slammed into her and instantly pushed her against him, once again shielding her with his body.

"Don't worry. I'm gonna get you out of this." He said.

Raven had no idea how he was going to that that, but she knew he would. She felt Danny's grip on her tighten and soon felt a shockwave through her entire body as a boulder slammed into them. She hardly felt anything due to her numb state but judging by the sharp intake of breath from Danny, he had certainly felt it. He recovered quickly enough.

"Brace yourself." He said.

Raven did, clutching onto him as tightly as she could manage. She felt his muscles tense, but before he could do anything, the roaring wind stopped and the tornado suddenly disapatted. The fell rather sharply to the ground from a dizzying height.

"What kind of tornado does that!?" Danny shouted as they fell.

The fell to the ground sooner than expected and Raven thought the landing was oddly softer than she anticipated. Danny taking the brunt of the fall probably contributed to that. He groaned and rolled over onto his back, releasing Raven from his hold.

"Are you okay?" Raven asked.

"I have a bruised body, I've been cut in several places by blades of grass flying at insane speed, I've just survived a tornado and I have a confused mind." He said.

"So…I should just give you a minute?"

"Yeah."

So they lay there, on the plane, both completely dumbfounded by the random experience they had just gone through, for a long time. The next time Danny spoke, the sun was setting.

"So you trust me, huh?" Danny asked.

Raven rolled her eyes. "I don't…trust easily, but you jumped into a tornado to save me, heck, you carried me along in a carrier you wove out of vines on the first day! Any other random person would've left dead weight behind. How can I not?"

"You're not dead weight. You're just-"

"Incapacitated. I know. You just ignored my compliment." Raven stated.

There was a rustling of grass and suddenly Danny's face was directly above hers. She could feel his breath hit her face.

"I didn't ignore the compliment. I'm…flattered." He said.

Raven snorted and Danny eyed her in confusion.

"I'm sorry." She said. "You just sounded like a total priss saying that."

Danny sighed, his breath hitting her face and making Raven blush. He didn't notice though.

"Way to kill the moment Rae." He said flopping onto his back next to her.

"You do realize that by tomorrow we'll be in a completely different environment, right?" she asked.

"Yeah." Danny said. "Sometimes I just think this is someone's sick and twisted idea for a show."

"Well, I trust you to get us through it." Raven said quietly.

For a long time Danny did nothing. Then he slowly moved his hand to Raven's and grasped it tightly.

/

" _Aww, such a touching ending scene." Control Freak said. Then he gagged. "I decided to go easy on them today, not sure why, but I'll make up for it tomorrow. Do you think they'll be able to survive? Find out next time on-"_

Robin turned off the TV abruptly. "Cyborg, status report." He barked.

"I've located the source of the transmission." Cyborg said. "It a-uh- private island in Fiji."

"Huh." Beast Boy said. "Who thought he could afford his own island? He still lived with his mom six months ago."

"Shall we go after him Robin?" Starfire asked tentatively.

"No." Robin answered. "We need to call the Fentons and brainstorm on a way to help them." He turned to the black TV screen. "I want them out of there by the end of tomorrow's transmission."


	4. Aftershock

Dear fans,

I have some doubts about this fic. Don't worry I won't stop it. But I doubt it is as exciting as the beginning. If you feel I have faltered in anyway and have suggestions on how to improve future chapters, please tell me.

And now, after a very short message, another chapter of…. _Live!_

Aftershock

"You know, these environment changes are pretty bland. Don't you think?" Danny asked. "I mean, a forest, an endless grassland, and now this."

Their new environment was exactly that. Bland. They were now in a barren wasteland of dry earth. The entire expanse in front of them was empty as far as Danny could see. The earth beneath them was so dry it had cracked and hardened, forming a spider web-like design. The ground itself was an ashen grey color, a stark contrast to the brilliant blue sky.

"On the bright side, at least the sky is clear." Raven said.

Danny was carrying Raven on his back, piggy-back style. She had protested at first, then lulled into silence when Danny said they would move faster that way.

"I've gotta take a break." Danny announced.

"Tired already?" Raven asked.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Hey, I haven't eaten since the day before yesterday. I'm running on empty here."

Raven herself wasn't all that hungry. The one benefit of being paralyzed. She wasn't moving around so she wasn't using the food. Danny was another story. He set her gently on the ground. To his surprise, she managed to sit up without falling over.

"Hey, you can sit up." He remarked. "Do you think you can walk?"

Raven concentrated and only managed to wiggle her toes. "Not yet. I think I have complete motion from my waist up, but my legs are still out of it." She said.

"Well, if you can wiggle your toes then your legs must not be too far behind." Danny said.

"At this rate, I should be able to walk by tomorrow." Raven answered.

"Maybe we could rush it." Danny said.

Raven looked up at him. "How?" she asked.

"Stimulation." Danny said simply. "We exercise your legs, you get feeling in them faster."

"And how are we going to do that. I can only wiggle my toes. Putting one foot in front of the other is out of the question." She said snarkily.

Danny smiled. Without another word her hoisted Raven to a standing position by her arms. He held her tightly to balance her.

"Let's see how long you can stand up." He said.

"I'll fall over." Raven answered.

"I'll catch you." Danny said simply.

A beat passed between them as Raven bit her lip uncertainly.

"C'mon." Danny said. "Trust me."

Raven sighed. "Fine."

Danny beamed. "Great. Brace yourself."

Raven did and Danny let go of her. She stood for ten seconds, by her count, then she started to fall. She didn't fall forward as Danny had anticipated, but backwards. Danny lunged to catch her, gripping her by the waist and pulling her tightly towards him. They stared at each other for a moment as something…electric passed between them. Raven was the first to speak up.

"I told you I would fall."

That seemed to snap Danny out of it. "Yeah, but you stood for five seconds."

"Ten seconds."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "So you were counting?" he teased.

Another moment of silence passed between them, and Raven felt that…electricity again. So she broke it.

"You can set me down now." She said.

"Oh, right." Danny said setting her down.

He sat down next to her and lay flat on his back. Raven remained upright, thankful to be able to sit up unaided.

"You've got to be kidding me." Raven said.

"What is it?" Danny asked sitting up.

Raven gestured behind her with a jerk of her head. An enormous apple tree had just sprung up out of nowhere. Danny stood up.

"Where are you going?" Raven asked.

"To go pick some apples. I'm absolutely starving." Danny said.

Raven looked at him skeptically. "Have you taken a good look at the tree? It's too high for anyone to climb. It'd be better if we kept going, see if something else pops up. Literally."

"I see your point." Danny replied. "I would probably agree with you too, but I'm just too hungry." He answered.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Fine. Just hurry."

"Don't worry. I'll be back before you know it."

Danny trotted over to the tree. It wasn't very far away, about twenty feet from where Raven was. He reached it quickly, and gaped at the sheer size of it. It was unnaturally huge for an apple tree, twice the size of any he had ever seen. He could see large apples, about half the size of his head, on the tree branches. The branches themselves were far out of Danny's reach. Even if he added a flight boost to a jump, he wouldn't make it. The trunk was completely smooth too, eliminating any chance of scaling it.

Danny bit his lip and turned to look at Raven. Her back was facing him. She had taken her cloak off and was fiddling with it, probably checking from any tears the winds of the tornado might have caused. Danny was sure she wouldn't be looking over at him anytime soon. He took a deep breath and flew up to the first fruits he could see, grabbed two of the monster apples, and quickly floated back down. He cast a nervous glance at Raven. Her cloak was back on and her hood was up. She didn't notice. Sighing quietly in relief, Danny ran back to her.

"Can you believe the size of these apples Raven? They're absolutely-"

"What was that?" Raven asked. Her tone was harsh. Her eyes, the only thing he could see through her cloak, were hard.

"That was me climbing an apple tree." Danny said.

"You didn't climb the tree Danny. I saw you. You _flew_." She said accusingly.

Danny swallowed harshly. "I didn't fly. I'm just…a really good jumper." He said lamely.

Raven's eyes narrowed. "I know flying when I see it. You flew." She said. "What are you? How can you fly?"

Danny knew it was useless to try and convince her she hadn't seen anything, so he opted for changing the subject.

"Here." He said, crouching to her level and handing her one of the apples. "Let's eat and keep going."

"No." Raven said. She drew away from him, putting her hands on the ground behind her for support. He hood fell down in the process. "Not until you tell me the truth."

"The truth can come after we get out here." Danny said tightly. He was starting to get angry, but he wasn't sure why.

"How can I trust you to get us out of here, if I don't even know who -or what- you are?" Raven asked sharply, glaring at him.

Danny didn't say anything, trying to keep exploding at her. He hadn't asked her any questions like that. He let her keep her secrets, restraining himself from asking questions about the secretive Titan. Why can't he keep his?

"I deserve to know." Raven said firmly.

Danny still said nothing. Raven sighed.

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you." She murmured.

For some reason, that really struck a chord in Danny. So he spoke up.

"If you can't respect that who I am is _my_ secret, then you can just save yourself!" he exploded, his eyes glowing green.

For a long time they just stared at each other. Raven's eyes were wide and filled with a mix of emotions Danny couldn't quite figure out. Danny's eyes were still neon green, burning with anger. Raven set her jaw and narrowed her eyes to give him a cold glare.

"Maybe I will." She said.

"Fine." Danny said.

Without another word they parted, both heading in opposite directions across the dry cracked ground. Danny walking briskly, hovering slightly, while Raven was crawling on her stomach, army style. Neither of them looked back.

/

The scene changed, cutting to Danny as he moved swiftly across the terrain. The giant apple was under his armpit. He was muttering to himself as he went along, but words couldn't be identified. His eyes had yet to revert to their normal light blue.

"Who does she think she is, trying to get me to tell her like I owe it to her?" He suddenly said. He stopped moving but still hovered over the ground. He held the apple out in front of him.

"I mean, I'm the one who nearly drowned and smashed to bits by a boulder saving her. She owes me!" he shouted.

 _Try to see things from her point of view, Danny._

Danny shook his head and chuckled, his eyes changing back to normal.. Even when Danny was so far away from her, Jazz still managed to give advice. He took a deep breath.

"Calm down Fenton. Let's try and take this from her point of view." He put the apple back under his armpit and started to hover in a circle.

"You wake up in a strange place, not able to move a muscle and completely powerless." He started. "And you find yourself completely dependant on a total stranger. Said stranger saves your life, twice, risking their own in the process. You begin to trust the stranger. The stranger becomes your…friend."

He slowed down and touched ground, walking slowly. "Then you find out that friend has been keeping a secret from you. You start to question everything. Can you really trust this person? What if they're the reason the powers, something that's a part of you, is gone?"

Danny stopped pacing and gasped. "Ohmigosh! Raven!"

He threw the apple away and took off towards Raven. He was fully flying now, all hesitation thrown into the wind. Before long he saw Raven's figure, crawling pitifully over the terrain. His heart lurched and he felt even guiltier.

"Raven!" he shouted.

She looked up and their eyes met. At first they held relief, then flashed with anger as she frowned. It only lasted a minute though.

The ground began to crack apart. It formed a deep black gorge beneath Raven, and she fell through.

/

Raven was struggling. Her palms were bleeding, her arms ached, and she was pretty sure her legs were being ripped to shreds by the rough ground. She tried not to notice, opting instead to let her anger consume her. She didn't have her powers and there wasn't anything around her that she could destroy, so she dwelt in it. Raven stopped crawling and let out a scream, releasing all her pain, anger and frustration in one action. Afterwards she felt much better, she was still angry though.

"I can't believe he said that." She said to herself.

She clenched her fist and gritted her teeth. "I can't believe this happened again." She whispered.

Raven shook her head and continued what she was sure was a pitiful crawl.

"Never trust new people Raven. They'll only let you down." She told herself. "The sooner I can get back to my team, the sooner I can forget this entire experience and the sooner-"

"Raven!"

She looked up and locked eyes with Danny. For a split second she was happy to see him. Then she frowned at him. She was about to turn around and continue when she suddenly felt like she was falling.

/

"Raven!" he shouted again. He quickly flew into the chasm after her.

It was pitch black, so dark Danny couldn't see his own hands. It was hard for him to breathe. The air was thick with dust and warm, making him cough. He blinked hard, changing his eyes from normal blue to neon green. He looked around quickly and saw Raven dangling on the side of the cavern, gripping the rock desperately.

"Raven!" Danny shouted flying over to her. "C'mon let's get out of here."

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Raven exclaimed.

"What?" Danny asked, completely bewildered. "Raven, be reasonable. You're dangling on the side of a gorge, for crying out loud."

"And _you're_ floating in midair and refuse to tell me why." Raven said.

Danny sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Look, I realize that we're having a problem now but wouldn't it be better if we address it in a safer place."

"I was never one for procrastination." Raven deadpanned.

Danny groaned. "Dammit Raven-"

He was cut off by the walls of the chasm shaking. They shook so violently Raven lost her grip and fell into the darkness. Danny flew down after her, his hand was almost touching hers when he noticed they were quickly approaching ground. He quickly grasped Raven's hand and pulled her towards him, shielding her with his body. He hit the ground with a resounding thud and gasped it pain. Raven rolled off of him and examined him. His eyes were shifting between blue and green but he didn't seem to be seriously injured.

A moment later he groaned and sat up, clutching his head. His eyes remained green.

"Are you okay?" Raven asked.

"Yeah. I think so." Danny said.

"Good. I want answers." She said.

Danny sighed. "Fine. But you have to promise to keep it an absolute secret."

"Naturally."

"Well, like I said earlier, my parents built a portal to the ghost zone, but it didn't work the first time. So my friend Sam dared me to go inside, which I did." He sighed again. "To cut it short, the on switch was inside the portal, and I accidentaly turned it on."

Raven's eyes opened. "But that should have-"

"Killed me. Yes, it did. Halfway." Danny answered.

"I don't get you." Raven said.

Danny sighed, and contemplated whether or not to tell her the full truth. "It enfused my DNA with ectoplasm, giving me ghost powers. Basically flight, intangibility and invisibility." Danny cringed in the dark, hoping she wouldn't notice his half-lie.

"I'll buy it, for simplicity's sake." Raven said.

"I appreciate it." Danny said with a chuckle.

"Do your parents know?" she asked.

Danny snorted. "Are you kidding me? They're ghost hunters. They'd sooner rip me apart molecule by molecule." He said with more bitterness than expected.

Raven put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "They're your parents Danny. I'm sure they'll understand."

"Yeah but-"

He was cut off yet again when the walls started moving, shifting closer together.

"What's happening?" Raven asked nervously.

"The walls are closing in." Danny said spreading his arms to touch either side of the wall.

And fast. It was already forcing him to bend his arms. He abandoned the futile attempt and turned to Raven. "Do you trust me?" he asked.

Raven looked at him confused. Now was not the time for him to be asking such questions. "What are you-"

"Do you trust me?!" he asked with more urgency.

Raven hesitated but felt the pinch of the rock walls on her shoulders and nodded.

Danny grabbed her around the waist and Raven felt a familiar tingling sensation in her stomach. Danny flew them straight up, through solid rock, until they burst into the open sky. Danny flew very high, to avoid any mishaps. The tingling sensation left Raven.

"Good old intangibility." She said squinting in the sun.

Danny chuckled. "I'll say."

Raven looked out over the horizon and saw a blinking light in the distance. "Dou you see that?" she asked, pointing.

Danny squinted. "Yeah. I think that's where we need to go." He said.

He tightened his grip around her waist and they flew towards the light. Their flight was permeated by a low growl. Danny grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry. I didn't eat my apple." He said.

"You can have some of mine. It's in my hood." Raven said.

Danny marveled at the fact that the giant apple didn't fall out during their entire adventure. Nonetheless, he took the apple from her hood and bit into it. He offered her a bite which she took, rather tentatively.

"It's nice to have food that doesn't try to eat you." Raven said absently.

"I'll say." Danny said.

/

"Cyborg. Are we ready to go?" Robin said as soon as the screen faded to black.

The plan was to essentially infect the entire system with a virus. The virus would eat into the programming that enabled Control Freak to make _Live!_. It would destroy the entire operation from the inside out, hopefully freeing the two in the process. Robin wanted them out as fast as possible. Raven was getting much too comfortable with Danny for his taste.

"All systems are go Rob." Cyborg said.

Robin gave a nod and Cyborg pressed a button, releasing the virus.

A few minutes later the alarms blared, bathing the entire room in red light.

Control Freak's face filled the main screen.

"Ah, Titans. I thought I warned you." He said. "As much as I love the attention from my show, I told you not to interefere." He sneered at them. "Brace yourself Titans, tomorrow is the last day you'll ever see Raven again. Or Danny for that matter."


	5. Fire's Catching

Dear fans,

Sorry about the delay. My country has issues supplying its people with a constant supply of electricity and my internet package sucks. But hey, I updated. I hope you have a box of tissues nearby. It gets pretty sad.

Now, your reviews:

 **Jessica Jayme Bell:** I had my stint with the RobRae ship. Never going down that road again. They're not right for each other. They're both too stubborn for their own good.

To the others… I wanted to cut down because this is a lengthy chapter, as you can tell.

Any recognizable parts are taken fron The Hunger Games.

This was proofread and tweaked by my beta **Rosalind2013.**

And now, another episode of…. _Live!_

Fire's Catching

The next day, the kids and adults of Amity Park went back to school and work respectively.

The mayor, as 'considerate' as he was, decided the city was losing way too much money without its workforce. Subsequently, the busy parents shoved their children back into school to better themselves through learning. Of course, no one got any work – or learning – done. The entire town was buzzing about the last episode of Live!, and Sam Manson couldn't stand it.

"So Fenton really is a freak, isn't he?" Dash asked with a smirk. "I totally called it."

Sam slammed her locker shut and turned to face the blonde jock and the crowd that had gathered around her, Tucker, and Jazz.

"Danny is not a freak, you big oaf!" Jazz shouted, confrontationally poking Dash in the chest for emphasis.

"Yeah," Tucker said. "How many times do we have to say it?"

"Until we digest the fact that geeky Danny Fenton has powers," Paulina said.

Sam narrowed her eyes at her. "Don't talk about him like that," she said through gritted teeth.

Paulina smirked coyly, "Over-protective of your little boyfriend, aren't you?"

"What did you say?!" Sam barked.

Tucker put a restraining hand on her shoulder, "Calm down Sam. She's not worth it."

Paulina huffed. "The only one not worth it is you," she snapped.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Now Sam." Jazz warned. "Don't do anything rash."

"You're obviously too clingy and defensive for Danny," she declared smugly. "Now that he's gotten significantly hotter, maybe I'll dig up that old crush he had on me."

Dash looked heart broken, "But I thought we were going out."

Paulina flipped her hair. "Things change Dash," she replied flippantly.

Sam gave a low growl. "You. Wouldn't. Dare."

Paulina grinned, "Try me."

"Tucker…"

Tucker immediately released Sam and the girl jumped on Paulina. The crowd of teens instantly erupted in cheers, picking sides and circling the fight. Sam went in strong, punching and kicking. Paulina screeched and retaliated by trying to scrape at Sam's skin with her nails. Jazz sidestepped out of the path of the catfight and ended up next to Dash, who had somehow managed to end up next to Tucker. The boy seemed to have quickly overcome his rejection and was watching the fight with rapt attention. Jazz could understand; catfights were rare in Amity Park.

Tucker nudged Dash. "I bet you twenty dollars that Paulina will walk away with an injured limb," He said.

"My hair! You'll pay for that you gothic bitch!"

The bully's head snapped to him, he was smirking. "Fat chance. Paulina just had a manicure yesterday. Her nails are like talons."

"I'll gouge your eyes out with my perfectly manicured nails!"

Dash's smirk widened. "See?"

There was a light tearing sound and the fight paused. Sam was holding a large chunk of Paulina's hair, looking very smug.

"Ha! I always knew your hair was nothing more than a bunch of really good extensions!" she called.

Paulina screeched, and the fight resumed.

"Then what've you got to lose?"

"Tucker." Jazz said sternly. "It's not good to bet."

"You'll pay for that freak!"

Dash thought for only a split second before shaking hands with Tucker, sealing the deal.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get a better view of what could be the last catfight I ever witness." Tucker said melting into the crowd.

"So, you're going to be a psychiatrist, right?" Dash asked.

Jazz looked at him in surprise. He had just gone from insulting her baby brother to making a bet over a catfight to asking about her. Who does that?

"Yeah, helping people is my passion." She said with pride.

"Funny, I always thought you were smarter than that."

Jazz narrowed her turquoise eyes at him. "Excuse me?"

"I'm going to cover your nearly flawless skin in bruises!"

Dash ripped his eyes from the fight and faced Jazz. "Yeah, I mean, it's all a bit…useless. You just feed troubled people a bunch of psychobabble and expect them to pay a fortune for it."

"That's not how it works." Jazz said, starting to get angry.

" _Nearly_ flawless?!"

"I don't know Ginger. My dad's brother's friend's neighbour's cousin knew a guy from the coffee shop down the road and to the right of where he lived, and the guy came back from a shrink looking worse than went he first went there." Dash said.

Jazz gnashed at him. "It's people like you who don't see the importance of psychiatry that don't allow it to expand." She said. "And don't call me Ginger!"

"You have a thick, hairy mole the size of a grape on your face? Isn't obvious?"

"Oh no, I understand why you want to help people." Dash said.

Jazz calmed down. He wasn't attacking her career choice after all. He was just voicing his opinion.

"You're brother really needs the help." He said.

"What?"

"Take. That. _Back._ Goth freak!"

"I mean, I always knew Fentonia had a screw loose." Dash said. "I mean, who spends three hours in the bathroom. After this, he's going to need more 'help' than ever."

Jazz growled.

"But enough about Fenton." Dash said. He leaned towards Jazz. "You. Me. Date."

The nerve! First he insults her dreams, them her little brother, and now he has the gall to his on her. Jazz was seething angry, something that rarely ever happens. She knew that if she didn't get that anger out right now, she'd end up taking it home with her. Mom and Dad needed her to be as cool and level-headed as possible. So she took out her anger at the source; by kneeing Dash in the crotch.

"Take that, you shallow little witch!"

He went down with a squeal, clutching his privates. Jazz smiled in triumph. Tucker wandered back to them, took one look at the groveling Dash, and gave Jazz a fist-bump

"Lord of the Flies!"

The crowd immediately stopped cheering and dissipated, leaving Sam, Tucker, Jazz, Dash and Paulina to take the fall. Lancer stormed over and separated Sam and Paulina. Dash hurridly picked himself up before the teacher noticed. Sam was relatively fine, except for a few scratches that would probably heal over in a weak. Paulina on the other hand was a total mess. Sam had ripped off all her extensions, leaving her with a short, thin, frizzy bob. She had the beginnings of a black eye, all her nails were broken and some were even bleeding. The most noticeable thing however, is that she was favoring her right leg.

Tucker smirked.

Dash fumed.

Jazz bit back a laugh.

"Manson! Sanchez! What on earth has gotten into you two?!" Lancer demanded.

"Mr. Lancer, it's not my fault! Paulina-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Lancer cut in. "We're going to my office to have a little chat with your parents. Ms. Fenton, please help Ms. Sanchez."

"Of course Mr. Lancer." Jazz said, thankful to leave.

The four walked away, Jazz helping the limping Paulina while Sam walked unaided with a certain bit of smugness in her step, completely ignoring the lecture Lancer was giving her. Tucker turned to Dash.

"Well, looks like you owe-"

Dash picked Tucker up and shoved him into the nearest locker, slamming the door after him.

"I don't owe you squat."

"Yeah," Tucker whimpered.

"And that kick never happened, get it?"

"Got it."

"Good." Dash kicked the locker for emphasis before walking away. A short pause passed.

"Hello?!" Tucker yelled. "Anyone there?"

No response.

"I have to go to the bathroom!"

/

Jack Fenton was quiet. Not only that, he was…thinking; two things that were very out of character for the large man.

"Is it our fault Maddie?" he asked his wife. "Did we go wrong somewhere?"

Maddie sighed and rubbed her husband's arms comfortingly. "No Jack. It's not our fault. He had an accident."

The entire thing had been gnawing on her since yesterday. The fact that her baby had gone through something so incredibly painful was one thing, but the fact that he feared for his life too much to even tell them what happened really made Maddie feel like…a bad mother.

"We weren't there for him," Jack said, snapping Maddie out of her thoughts.

"What are you talking about Jack?" Maddie asked. She thought of herself as a good mother, a mother who was there for her children, unlike her own.

"We weren't there to support him Mads."

"Jack, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself," Maddie soothed. "There's no way we could have known that he had been…changed. You heard him anyway, there's no way he was going to tell us."

"Because he feared we would rip him apart molecule by molecule," Jack snapped. "Think about it Mads! Ghosts are all we talk about; it's what we live for. And all we talk about is ripping ghosts apart, trying to see what makes them tick."

Maddie sat quietly throughout Jack's rant. There was a horrible feeling - like but somehow unlike guilt - sitting in the pit of her stomach. She didn't want Jack to keep talking, but she didn't dare stop him. He needed to let this out.

"So, I'm really not surprised that when he…changed, he was scared to death of telling us." Jack continued. "He thought we would dissect first and act questions later."

He slumped over in his seat, seemingly spent. Maddie put a hand on his shoulder, blinking back tears.

"My own son thinks I would…"

"It's okay Jack. It's okay."

"No it's not. It won't be again."

/

"Robin?" Starfire asked tentatively. "You did not sleep last night nor this morning. You are in need of rest."

Robin didn't even break his gaze from the computer screen, scanning all the information he had for something to help them take down Control Freak. He had been working since their first attempt at freeing them had failed. There was no way he was going to let his teammate be terminated, not while he was still breathing.

"Not now Starfire." Robin growled. "If I don't find a way to get Raven out of there before today's episode airs-"

Starfire cut him off by putting a firm but gentle hand on his shoulder.

"I understand your worry for friend Raven, we are all worried, but there is nothing more we can do for her from here," Starfire stated.

"I can't just give up!" Robin shouted, slamming his fists on the keyboard.

"It is not like you haven't tried," Starfire said, raising your own voice. "You must rest now Robin, you cannot think properly with a tired mind."

Robin sighed and ran a hand through his already messy hair. She was right. For the last few hours he had been drawing a mental blank of the likes he'd never experienced before. It was like his mind was fuzzy around the edges.

Starfire felt his tense body loosen and allowed herself a small smile. She removed her hand from his shoulder and grabbed his hand.

"Come friend Robin," she murmured, leading him out of the control room. "A little rest is all you need."

Robin sighed when they reached the door of his room. "Thanks Starfire. I don't know why you put up with me."

"You are my friend Robin," she replied simply. "I care deeply for you."

Robin blushed. "T-thanks Star. I, uh, care for you too." He stammered.

Starfire beamed at him with soft eyes. "Rest now Robin," she said.

Robin nodded and slipped into his room. As soon as the door closed Starfire bustled back to the Common Room, where Beast Boy and Cyborg were.

"He's finally resting?" Beast Boy asked.

Starfire nodded affirmatively.

"Good," Cyborg said. "The last thing we need is a sleep deprived Robin."

"Indeed," Starfire replied. "It would not be conduci-"

She stopped talking when the TV spontaneously turned on, signaling the start of another torturous episode of Live!. Starfire considered waking Robin to watch, before deeming it redundant. He would just watch the recording several times over afterwards, searching for some kind of flaw in Control Freak's scheme that he could use to help Raven and Danny; something that could wait until later.

No, it wasn't necessary to wake Robin.

Starfire shook her head, sat on the crescent couch next to Beast Boy, and watched.

/

The cameras showed Danny and Raven in a forest once again. It was much like the one they were in the day this all started. The woods were sparsely decorated with young trees and shrubs, though environment was much warmer, making both of them sweat in steady streams. The other difference was that the ground was dark, nearly black. It wasn't a significant detail, but the viewers noted it in their effort to try and figure out what would happen to them today.

Raven had finally gained control of her body and was walking – albeit wobbly – through the forest. Her legs shook violently with each step. If she hadn't been leaning on the trees for support, she would have fallen. Her pace was painfully slow and her face was scrunched up in concentration. Sweat was streaming down her face and her thick cloak obviously wasn't helping her. For some strange reason though, she absolutely refused to take it off. Danny was watching her; amused.

"You know, it would be a lot easier for you and faster for us if you just let me help you," he said with a smirk.

"I already told you Danny," Raven said, concentrating on taking her next step. "The fastest way for me to get feeling back in my legs is stimulation. I have to exercise them."

"Yeah," Danny responded. He realized something. "Wait a minute. I said that! Yesterday!"

"Details. Details," Raven muttered with a passive wave of her hand. "The important thing is that you are not helping me today."

Danny gave an exasperated sigh. He could relate to Raven; if he'd spent four days near paralyzed and dependent on another person he'd be itching to do something for himself too. But they were wasting so much time. They had barely gone five miles from when they set off this morning-before the sun came out-and even then the heat was evident. Now with the sun high in the sky, they were broiling.

"You're really stubborn, do you know that?" he asked her.

Raven ignored him and changed the subject. "Are you sure this is the direction of the light we saw yesterday?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. It was pretty hard to miss," Danny replied. "It looked like it was on some kind of mountain or something. It was pretty high up. What do you think it could be?"

"A way to get home. Maybe a portal of some kind," Raven answered.

"I was thinking something more like The Wizard of Oz," Danny said.

Raven stared at him as if he'd grown two heads.

"Don't look at me like I'm crazy," Danny said defensively.

"Why not?" Raven asked. "You think we'll meet an out of shape old man behind a curtain? That this was all some big sham?"

Danny shrugged. "Why not? This is all pretty crazy, and I live in a town constantly attacked by ghosts. Something about this whole thing feels kind of fishy."

…

The viewers at home sat up straighter in their seats. Danny Fenton was on to something; if he would just keep thinking about it, maybe they could save themselves.

…

"I don't really care." Raven said, shocking Danny. "I just really want to head back to the Tower and forget all this ever happened.

…

The viewers slacked into their seats. So close.

…

"You can say that again," Danny said with a strong nod. "When I get home, I'm eating all the non-living food in the fridge and sleeping till THE Box Ghost actually becomes a major threat," he stated with a chuckle.

Raven gave him a curious look. "I take it I'm missing an inside joke?" she asked.

"It's nothing important really," Danny said. "What about you? What will you do when you get back to your team?"

"I'll make Robin run me through a week of his special training routines," she replied evenly.

…

Starfire gasped.

"She can't be serious." Beast Boy said in shock.

"The girl's delusional." Cyborg said. "Does she want to die!?"

…

Danny's icy blue eyes widened. "I imagine that's a big deal."

Raven nodded, "Definitely. I want to stretch my body as far as it can go; flush whatever made me like this out of my system. After that, I'll drown myself in Earl Grey tea."

"Well, that's a plan," Danny said.

During their conversation, Danny noticed Raven's pace increasing and her legs steadying until she was walking alongside Danny and nearly brushing fingers with him.

"How did you speed up so fast?" he asked, slightly surprised.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Do we really need to start this conversation over again?" she asked.

"No," Danny said with a laugh. "I get the message."

They walked in silence for a while in the sweltering heat that seemed to have gotten worse during their brief conversation. Neither of them felt like talking much anymore, it was much too hot for that. Suddenly, Raven's ears picked up a familiar sound and she tensed.

"I hear running water," she said.

Danny's muscles tensed too. He'd rather not have to deal with water while he was still kept in this place. The first body of water they came across was a river, an absolutely horrible river. Danny had nearly drowned. Raven had even stopped breathing. The memory of it all made him shudder.

"Let's try the water Danny," Raven said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "The only way to beat the heat is with water. Who knows, maybe we'll catch some fish. We can't keep going without food for so long."

Danny sighed and slackened his body. She was right. They had to go to the river if they wanted to survive.

"Fine." he conceded. "Lead the way."

He was caught off guard when Raven slid her hand down his arm to grasp his hand. Her fingertips were surprising cool - a shocking contrast to the sweltering environment - and left a trail of an odd tingling sensation that made his face flush and his stomach flip. Her hand gripped his surprisingly firmly, and tugged him in the direction of the water. He stumbled as he tried to keep up with Raven's pace, shaking his head to clear it. The heat was obviously getting to him. There was no reason for him to react to Raven's touch like that.

Before Danny noticed, they were standing in a large circular clearing; in the middle of the sudden break in the trees was a deep blue lake. The sapphire coloring of the water seemed almost ethereal in the midst of the dark sand that lined its coast. A small waterfall flowed from a low mound of black rocks and into the body of water, causing small ripples to radiate over the surface of the otherwise calm lake.

"I'm going for a swim," Raven announced.

Danny gripped her hand hard, and Raven looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry," Danny said, releasing her hand. "Just be careful."

Raven rolled her eyes and removed her cloak, carelessly depositing it on the sand beside her feet. "Stop being such a Robin," she scoffed as she sat at the edge of the lake. She lowered her legs into it and hissed slightly. The water was cold, a much welcome change. "See Danny? Nothing bad is happening."

Danny stood where Raven had left him, still hesitating. "Not yet. What if it turns into a whirlpool or something?"

"It's not going to turn into a whirlpool," Raven responded. "You're just being paranoid."

Danny crossed his arms over his chest indignantly, "Yeah, well, it kind of runs in the famil- Ah!"

The last word left as a shout when Raven grabbed him by the ankle and pulled him into the water. Danny was quickly submerged in the icy water. He gave a gasp at the sharp cold, causing water to flood his lungs. Panicking, he swam to the surface and forced the water out with a series of coughs and sputters. Over the sound of his harsh breathing he heard a sound. A strange melodious sound, which he was sad to note that he hadn't heard before. Brushing his wet bangs out of his eyes, he was surprised to see that Raven was laughing so hard she was convulsing, clutching her stomach.

He gaped at her; the smile on her face changed her completely. It made her seem so carefree, as if they weren't in such a dire situation at the moment. Danny liked it; he wanted to see more. When she noticed him staring, she stopped laughing abruptly, reverting to her stone cold poker face. Danny was sad to see the smile go and hear her beautiful laugh stop. He decided that he'd just have to make it happen again.

"So you think it's funny to nearly drown me?" he asked.

"You were never in any real danger," she stated evenly.

"This lake is deep you know!" Danny shouted. "My feet couldn't touch the ground when I went under!"

"Someone of your stature shouldn't measure depth with height," Raven said.

Danny faltered. "Was that a height joke?"

"…Maybe."

"That doesn't even make any sense! I'm taller than you!"

Raven shrugged passively and shifted her attention from him to their surroundings, dragging her feet through the water absentmindedly. Danny noticed that she was distracted and smirked. Silently, he slipped back underwater and swam swiftly over to Raven. He grabbed her roughly by the ankle and pulled her into the water too. She went under with a yelp and resurfaced quickly enough, panting heavily and shivering. She looked around for Danny and saw him about six feet to her right, chuckling.

"Danny!" she exclaimed with a scowl.

"C'mon Rae," he said, swimming over to her. "You really didn't think I'd let you get away with that stunt, did you?"

"…"

"Now relax," he said while flipping over to float on his back. "And enjoy the water."

"Weren't you completely against the lake five minutes ago?" Raven asked accusingly.

Danny ignored her and Raven sighed. He was probably right. She also moved and floated on her back as well. She drifted slowly and stared up at nothing in particular, relishing the peace. That peace was suddenly shattered by a flare of orange, followed by a surge of heat so intense that it singed the tips of Raven's hair and burned the skin of her stomach through her leotard.

She yelled and instinctively went underwater. The cool lake water soothed her burn but disoriented her slightly, but she quickly managed to break the surface again.

"Are you okay?" Danny asked, swimming over to her. "What was that?"

"We need to get out of here." Raven said pulling herself out of the lake and wincing at the pain her burn caused her. "Now."

She found her cloak on the shore and snapped it back on while Danny got out too.

"Run," she ordered, using one hand to grab his and the other to shield her burned stomach from the harsh warm air as they dashed through the forest.

Danny struggled to keep up, still confused. "What exactly are we running from?" he inquired.

He felt heat on his back and turned his head to see a large, orange ball of flames barreling right for them; setting the trees around it ablaze.

"A fireball." he whispered.

"Exactly. Now run!" Raven yelled through gritted teeth as she increased the pace, further irritating her burn.

Danny quickly realized that at the pace they were running, and at the speed the fireball was coming after them, they'd never make it on foot. He sped up and grabbed Raven under the armpits and took off, straight up into the sky. Raven gasped when she realized she was flying and looked up at Danny. She had completely forgotten he could fly.

Danny wasn't looking at her though; his eyes were fixed on the fireball. It had somehow managed to shoot up after them, following them.

"A heat seeking fireball?!" he exclaimed. "Are you kidding me!?"

He flew rapidly, zigzagging erratically to try and lose it, but the fireball barreled straight on after them. Raven was getting slightly dizzy with all the jerking and the pain from her burn but tried to keep her mind focused in order to think of a way to get rid of the ball of flames. She was unsuccessful until she saw another fireball coming straight after them.

"Danny, fly straight up." she demanded.

"It's not going to make a difference Raven. It'll just-"

"Now!"

Startled into action, Danny complied and flew straight up. The two fireballs collided with each other and exploded. The force of the blast knocked Raven out of Danny's hands and the heat made the burn on her stomach worse, making her hiss in pain. She was thrown higher before she went plummeting down. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see Danny falling as well, knocked unconscious by the force of the blast.

Raven ignored her own pain and struggled against the rushing of the wind, gripping the tips of her cloak and using it with the wind to propel herself towards Danny. The ground was less than fifty feet from them; she had to work fast. She grabbed him securely by the wrist and spread her cloak as far as it could go, trying to soften their fall.

It didn't quite work.

They slammed into a tree branch. Raven had positioned herself at the last minute to take the brunt of the fall and got the air knocked out of her when her side hit the branch. She felt a rib crack and lost her grip on Danny. The branch broke and they fell again, slamming into more branches as they neared the ground. They landed hard on the cracked earth, pinned under the broken tree branch. Raven hissed in pain, the weight was putting pressure on her cracked rib and the burn on her stomach.

Danny woke up with a groan and immediately forced the branch off of them. Raven rolled onto her back, grateful for the absence of the pressure.

"Raven! Are you okay?" Danny asked crawling over to her and propping her head on his folded knee.

"I'm fine." Raven wheezed. "Just had the wind knocked out of me."

"You've been burned."

"It's noth-"

They both smelled something burning and turned to see deep green liquid flowing rapidly towards them, devouring all the foliage in a puff of smoke and burst of green flame. It was some kind of lava. Danny hoisted Raven up, helping her run by tossing her arm over her shoulder. He decided against flying again, in case there were more fireballs up there waiting for them. But as the green lava got close enough to them that they could feel the heat radiating on their backs, he decided to take his chances. Swiftly picking Raven up bridal style he jumped…only to hit the ground running again.

"What's wrong? Raven asked.

Danny glanced over his shoulder at the green lava. It was close enough for him to see that it glowed with a pulsating light.

"The lava!" he exclaimed suddenly realizing. "It's made of ectoranium! It drains my powers!" Danny said.

Thinking fast, Danny ran to the right trying to around the lava. But no matter which way he went the lava was always there, rapidly coming after them. Looking up ahead, Raven noticed a small cave that was mounted on solid rock and high enough to avoid the lava.

"There!" she shouted pointing. "Can you take us there?"

Danny followed her finger to the cave and ran straight towards it. The rock it was on was smooth, to smooth for him to scale.

"Sorry Raven." he said.

With a grunt, he threw Raven up and into the cave. Raven hit the slick rock harshly, further agitating her cracked rib and burn, drawing yet another pained hiss from her. Ignoring the pain, she crawled on her stomach to the edge and gripped Danny's waiting hand, pulling him upward. Raven screamed with the effort and the pressure that Danny's weight was putting on her cracked rib and burn, but managed to hoist the boy into the cave a split second before the lava engulfed him.

They lay there panting for a few moments before Danny crawled over to Raven. He frowned down at her.

"You're hurt," He stated with a frown. "Really bad."

Raven touched the area of her bruised rib and was shocked when her hand came back red with blood and black from the ash of her leotard. She must have been hurt worse than she originally thought. Her cracked rib must have broken when she pulled Danny into the cave. She gently touched the burn on her stomach-just letting her finger graze it-and hissed as a jolt of pain flowed tore through her body. It was too dark in the cave to see the details of the burn, but Raven guessed it to be third-degree.

"Its nothing." she said, straining to keep her voice even. "I can heal it when I get my powers back. At least we're safe."

No sooner had the words left her mouth than the floor of the cave completely broke apart, sending them spiraling into pitch darkness. Their fall was long and several pieces of rock slammed into every part of their bodies, crushing them. They finally slammed painfully onto solid ground, but before they could move in any way, all the pieces of rock that they had been falling with hit ground too, completely burying them.

/

"Ah, well, there you have it ladies and gents." Control Freak said with a smug smirk. "The end of the show. And no, they're not going to be coming back. No one could survive falling a hundred feet and being crushed by a ton of rocks."

He clapped his hands together once, loudly. "Well, there's not much left to say. It's been an interesting ride."

He smirked straight at the camera. "Goodbye."

/

The coffee table hit the television with so much force that it made a dent in the wall. Jack Fenton was seething angry. His son. Brutally murdered along with another innocent girl for some villain's sick amusement. He gripped his hair and pulled at it, nearly tearing it out from the roots. He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to wail for his lost son. But he couldn't.

He sighed and turned to Maddie who had been sobbing heart wrenchingly since the end of the episode. Jack walked to the couch, carefully avoiding the pieces of broken glass, and hugged his wife. As much as he wanted to break down, he needed to be strong for Maddie.

/

Casper High was much of the same. The entire school was eerily silent, save for the sobs of Jazz Fenton; who had raced to the bathroom to vomit when the episode ended. Sam Manson hadn't done anything other than clenching her fists so hard her nails dug into her palms and made them bleed, tears streaming down her face. Tucker had put his face in his hands and hadn't moved in any way since. Those around him weren't even sure he was breathing regularly.

There were no words spoken. What could anyone say? The same thing was echoing through their minds.

Danny Fenton was dead.

Everything had changed.

/

"This can't be happening. This can't be happening." Beast Boy chanted over and over again as he paced in the Common Room.

He was the only one of the three moving. Starfire had been struck dumb, not moving or speaking at all. Cyborg hadn't moved from his spot on the couch either. But he was speaking. Over and over again he was saying,

"Raven is dead. Raven is dead."

"Don't say that! She's not dead!" Beast Boy shouted nearly hysterical. "She's our friend! She can't just die like that!"

Starfire snapped out of her trance and turned around in her seat to face Beast Boy. "I know it is hard to digest," she murmured quietly. "But we must-"

She was cut off when the Common Room doors slid open, and a rested, beaming Robin stepped out.

"Guys. I thought of the best plan to save Raven," he announced cheerily.

The room turned horribly silent although Robin didn't realize the reason for it.

"I was going through my notes yesterday and I realized that-"

"Friend Robin."

"-Their environment is all fake! It's nothing more than a huge virtual reality environment! Like what we have in the-"

"Dude, Robin."

"-training room! We have to get to Fiji ASAP and save Raven!"

"Robin." Cyborg said.

Robin turned to him, frustrated that he was interrupted. "What is it Cyborg? The more time we waste the longer Raven is-"

"Raven is dead." Cyborg said emotionlessly.

The room stilled for Robin as his face went slack and he blanched a deathly pale. Raven was dead. Cyborg has no reason to lie to him. He had failed as a leader. When he could have been saving his teammate he was wasting his time sleeping. And now for that, Raven was-

Robin left the room swiftly, the door sliding shut behind him with an ominous _thunk_.

That was when Starfire started to cry.


	6. I'll Be Back

Hi all,

First off, many thanks to my awesome beta Rosalind2013 for proofreading. Good luck on your finals! Second, sorry for the delayed update. I hit major writer's block with this chapter. On the bright side, during my search for inspiration I managed to revise and add new content to my oneshots Inevitability and Drafted and add two more oneshots to the series. Don't worry, I'll post them when I'm done with this story.

Now for the reviews;

 **Response:** Don't worry! There _is_ a better ending to this. I promise. It just won't come for a couple more chapters.

 **Funnybombninja:** I am honored that you favorite this story.

 **Konamicode:** Thanks for your reference and advice. I plan on being more creative with Danny's powers (he's no wimp, as we all know) but for now I want him to keep his powers on the DL. They both still have no idea they're being watched, but Danny's still not ready to reveal his secret. Soon though.

 **Nobody:** As I always say, 'If I don't see a body in the coffin, no one died.' It's nice to see that you live by that code too. It's the only thing that makes me keep watching movies like Big Hero 6.

 **Guest:** : ( You hurt me with you words. There's no need to jump to conclusions and insults. Take a page from Nobody's book.

Alright. Any noticeable parts are from a scene from **Xaphrin's** story **The Replacement** which is a TTYJ crossover with a Raven/Wally pairing. It's very good.

The title for this chapter is taken from Arnold Schwarzenegger's famous line in the movie _The Terminator._

And now, another episode of… _Live!_

I'll Be Back

The halls of Casper High were quiet; solemn. There was none of the normal harsh sounds of lockers slamming shut, the light tittering of the gossipers; there wasn't even the normal low hum of all the students talking. Every single one of them was wearing a darker outfit, supposedly mourning Danny. Jazz assumed it was more out of guilt than actual sorrow.

As she walked down the hall to her next class she took in the looks on the faces of each student. They had all been mean to Danny at some point in his short life. Danny had always thought no one noticed, that no one paid attention. Jazz did. And when she did, she saw too much.

There were the jocks and cheerleaders, of course, who had relentlessly teased and bullied her baby brother. As she passed them, she noted they had all exchanged their bright red outfits for black jackets and dark clothing. Dash and Paulina looked up at her, giving her a sympathetic look. Jazz nodded politely but didn't break her stride.

Then there were the normal everyday kids; the ones that looked on at Danny's torment and decided not to interfere. Some of them probably even added to it, what with their scathing remarks or vicious rumors. They were also clothed in dark colors. Another sympathetic look, another nod.

Jazz finally made it to her class and promptly abandoned her seat in the front row to sit in the left corner of the classroom, as far away from the teacher and the door as possible. She adjusted the pitch-black headband she had borrowed from Sam and faced forward, trying to give the lesson her full attention.

She just couldn't.

Danny's face just kept flashing in her mind. His happy go-lucky smile, the habit he had of brushing his hair away from his face because he had let it grow too long, the look on his face when she startled him, the small chuckle she was treated to when he was happy. Suddenly the reality of the entire situation hit her like a ton of bricks. She would never be able to see him again. Danny, her little brother.

Jazz felt the tears welling up in her eyes, but bit her lip hard in an attempt to hold it back. She had cried enough in the girls' bathroom yesterday, but she didn't think she could hold her tears back. She wondered why she even came to school in the first place. She should have just stayed at home with her parents, looking through photo albums and home videos and plowing through box after box of tissues.

Jazz sniffed and put her head into her hands, crying. She forced herself to cry quietly, no gasps or sobs, just the tears streaming down her face. Through the haze of her cry, she was just able to hear someone's voice.

"Hey guys, you might want to check out your phones."

/

The next day, life went on in Jump City.

Villains flooded the city, wreaking havoc on every street. It was as if Live! had put a spell on them, causing them to remain dormant for the five days that it aired. Now that it was over, they seemed to be making up for lost time and putting in double the effort. They knew the Titans were broken, in more ways than one, and they intended to use that to their advantage.

Beast Boy let out a low growl and ignored the throbbing pain in his side. He was crouched down on the hard asphalt of the alley. He had been fighting since sunrise when the first villain struck. Now midday, the steady stream of crime didn't seem to relent. He was exhausted and didn't even know how many more transformations he had the energy for. But he had to hold on; keep fighting until the last villain was behind bars. He honestly hoped that it would be Red X.

"Had enough, dog boy?" Red X asked in a synthesized voice.

"Beast Boy," He mumbled.

"What was that?"

"My name, is Beast Boy!" he shouted. With a growl he charged at Red X, morphing into a lion. He swung his paws at the thief, but only managed to slash air as the thief dodged each blow effortlessly. The transformation didn't hold, and Beast Boy fell to the floor in exhaustion.

"Do you wanna know why we all came out like this?" Red X asked walking over to him. He picked Beast Boy up by the front of his uniform and slammed him harshly against the wall. "We - me excluded - were all scared to death of the creepy chick."

Beast Boy wanted to tell the pompous jerk that she was not creepy, just different. He understood that now, even if he didn't know why. Raven's understanding of 'different' was what he needed when he was going through the Beast incident. She understood what it felt like to lose control; she kept him grounded, as she did with the rest of the team. No wonder they were so far apart now.

"She's not creepy," He managed to force out.

Red X laughed. It was a cold, empty, sound. "Of course she is. We all got this dark-evil-vibe off of her." He said. "That chick was powerful. More than she let on."

Beast Boy wanted to say something, but he couldn't think clearly. His mind was clouded with exhaustion. He only managed an exhausted sigh. Red X suddenly released him, allowing him to crumple down on the icy asphalt.

"I must admit though, that was a pretty gruesome death. Even for a girl as emotionless as she was." Red X said, walking to leave.

Beast Boy saw red. Raven was not emotionless. He saw the emotion - the raw heartbreak - in her eyes after what Malchior did to her. He saw the concern in her eyes as she looked at every teammate in the morning; as if she somehow knew they all had nightmares. He saw the patience in her eyes whenever Robin went berserk, when Starfire was homesick, or when Cyborg started to doubt his humanity. And he remembered the somber understanding in her eyes whenever he vented out to her about Terra. Raven was anything but emotionless.

How dare he say that about his friend?

Red X froze as a loud snarl erupted from behind him. He whirled around to face the source of the noise, and was stunned by the transformation that was taking place. The green teen's breath came in heavy huffs as he began to rapidly increase in size, and dark green fur began to sprout all over his body. Red X looked on in shock as Beast Boy's already sharp canines lengthened, and his claws became elongated and sharp. The gigantic creature towered over him and released a roar that seemed to shake the foundations of the surrounding buildings.

Red X took a step back. He stumbled over and fell, but managed to scramble back to his feet. The thief reached into his belt and started to release a volley of sticky X's at the Beast's feet, in an effort to stop his progress. It worked momentarily, but the sticky substances were quickly shaken off. The Beast grabbed Red X by the front of his suit and hoisted him high in the air. The thief struggled against the iron grip, all the while throwing his trick Xs at the Beast to no avail.

The Beast bared the claws on his free paw and let it swing forward, ready to slash Red X. Suddenly a bird-a-rang nicked the tender flesh of the Beast's paw, making him hiss and drop Red X. The villain wasted no time in teleporting out of there, leaving the Beast to deal with his teammates.

"Beast Boy," Robin said catching his bird-a-rang as it flew back at him. "We know you're still in there."

"Indeed," Starfire said. Her fists flickered with neon energy, she was unsure if she should attack.

"He said bad things about Raven," The Beast said.

The Titans were startled. They didn't realize Beast Boy was in so much control of the Beast as to retain rational thought. Their expressions instantly relaxed.

"We know man," Cyborg said. "And we get back at them by stuffing them behind bars, not mauling them."

The Beast grunted and slowly morphed back to Beast Boy. He found that he was suddenly exhausted, and fell to the floor.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." Beast Boy promised, as his friends gathered around him in concern. "I'm just tired. I don't think I'll be able to fly us home."

"I shall do it," Starfire declared cheerfully. "It would not be a bother."

"Great," Robin said. "I think we're done for today. We should-"

"Not so fast Rob." Cyborg said. "Before anybody goes anywhere y'all have _got_ to open your communicators."

/

The cameras opened up to a still scene. It looked like some kind of underground cavern of sorts. The surroundings were nearly pitch black save for a little sliver of light streaming in from an impossibly high ceiling. The viewers noticed Raven lying on the floor of the cavern, a rock pinning her to the ground by her left arm. She woke up slowly and tried to sit up but couldn't, since the boulder was preventing her from getting up. She tried to wriggle her arm out from under it and screamed in pain. The arm was broken, she couldn't get it free that way. She moved her right hand against the rocky ground searching for a flat piece of rock or something that she could use for leverage.

Instead, her hand touched something warm and wet. She turned her head and peered through the half-darkness. She gasped when she realized she had dipped her fingers in a puddle of blood. Danny's blood. The boy lay just out of arm's reach of her, a larger rock on his midsection. There was a gash on his head where Raven guessed he had been hit by a rock. It was where all the blood was coming from.

Raven felt her breath leave her. He was just a kid. He didn't deserve to die here like this. Raven decided she wouldn't let him. She took slow breaths, trying to calm herself and clear her mind.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos." As she said it, she felt every in of her body course with warmth. Her powers were back-dormant-but back. She just had to meditate enough to release it.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos." She chanted, faster and faster while her body grew warmer and warmer.

The viewer at home were shocked when Raven's eyes glowed white with energy and her whole body was engulfed in a black aura.

"Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos!" Raven shouted.

With a flash of black energy the boulder was thrown off of Raven's arm, crashing into the wall of the cavern and completely shattering. Raven's body levitated off the ground and the black aura changed to a soft blue glow. The viewers watched in awe and amazement as her broken arm straightened out, her burnt and bloody midsection healed over and every other cut and bruise vanished. Raven lowered herself to stand on the ground and her eyes soon returned to normal, and the blue glow vanished.

Raven wasted no time and ran to Danny's side. She kneeled on the ground and with a wave of her hand sent the rock flying off of him. She made a quick assessment of his state and started healing the gash on his head, closing her eyes as her magic poured into him. To her relief it wasn't a serious injury. There was no brain damage or any skull fractures. The rock had hit him just hard enough to burst an artery and knock him out.

She soon finished and opened her eyes. Danny shifted and opened his eyes blearily. He blinked up at Raven in surprise. "Raven! You're okay." He said. His voice sounded strange and his breathing was shallow.

"I am." Raven said. "But you're not."

She positioned herself so she was facing Danny's abdomen. She pulled up his shirt poked and prodded his bare chest gently, trying to find out what exactly was wrong. Her fingers were surprisingly cool and sent those same shivers that he had experienced at the pool through him. He gave a small squeak of pain when she prodded him in the ribs. Even through the half-darkness, Danny could see her frowning.

"Just as I thought. You have a broken rib." She said.

"Oh." Danny said. "That's not so bad. Considering what we just went through I'm surprised I'm not worse."

"The problem is your broken rib is dangerously close to your lung." Raven explained. "One wrong breath and you have a pierced lung."

As if by some twisted act of fate, Danny broke out into a fit of violent coughs that were almost immediately followed by a watery, gurgling sound. Raven instantly propped his head up against her folded knees, preventing his lungs from filling up with fluid too fast. Eventually the gurgling stopped and Danny looked up at her in fear.

"What's going to happen to me?" he asked.

"Nothing." Raven said firmly. "I'm going to heal you."

"You can do that?" Danny asked.

Raven nodded. "But I can't heal you while your rib is still in your lung. Your lung needs to inflate and force all the fluid-and your rib-out so I can heal you."

"But I can't fully inflate my lung without coughing." Danny said.

"I'll do it for you." Raven said.

Danny blushed when he realized what she meant. He suddenly felt suddenly nervous. He shouldn't feel this way. It was like the way he gave her CPR back at the river. Something detached and professional. An act of necessity. But somehow it all felt different to him, as if something had changed. He looked into her violet eyes and realized something had changed-but he wasn't sure what.

"Are you ready?" Raven asked ripping Danny out of his thoughts.

"I-" Danny was cut off by another coughing fit.

Almost instantly, Raven's mouth was on his; forcing air into his lungs. It was incredibly painful and Danny almost screamed. Soon though, a strange warmth began to fill his chest and the pain faded. Danny figured it was Raven healing him. He nearly jerked when he felt Raven's cool fingers on his chest spreading the warm magic his rib needed to heal. At this stage Danny was focused on the fact that Raven's lips were still on his. A fact that Danny wouldn't have cared about four days ago but now…now he didn't know what to think of it.

All to soon Raven's fingers left his chest-taking the warmth with them-and her lips left his. She looked down at him, breathing heavily and lips tinged slightly pink. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Danny blinked. "Uh. Yeah." He said. He stood up and started stretching. "Everything feel right."

"Good." Raven said pulling her hood up as she also stood up.

Danny surveyed their surroundings. "I don't think I have enough energy to fly us up that high, or phase us through all that rock." He said.

"That won't be necessary." Raven said.

She reached out from under her cloak and grabbed Danny's arm, pulling him closer to her until they were shoulder-to-shoulder.

Danny blushed. "What are you-"

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven shouted, effectively cutting him off.

What happened next was the strangest feeling Danny had ever experienced. First all he saw was darkness, then he felt a cold that chilled him to the bone then warmed him until he was unbearably hot. He felt like he was falling, but he could still feel the ground beneath his feet. He was suddenly very dizzy and could have sworn the darkness was spinning. The next thing he knew Raven was telling him to open his eyes.

Danny did and was surprised to notice that they were still in the forest from the day before, but there were no trace of the lava or the fireballs; which was unsettling. On the bright side, the temperature was significantly cooler.

He turned to Raven. "What was that?" he asked.

"That was teleportation." Raven said releasing his arm. She walked a little way away from him and sat Indian style, eyes closed in concentration, floating in mid-air. She took deep breaths several times, clearing her system in preparation for her meditation session. "Aza-"

"What are you doing?" Danny asked.

Raven could already feel a headache forming. "I'm meditating." She answered simply.

"Why would you have to do that?"

"My powers are based on emotion. Now that they're back, I need to meditate to keep both my emotions and my powers in check." She explained not even turning to face him. "You could join me. It could help you."

"No thanks." Danny answered. He rubbed his stomach. "I'm going to go look for some food. I'm starved."

Raven absent mindedly but a hand to her stomach. She was hungry too. "I could go with you." She said turning to face him.

"You don't have to." Danny said. "You just stay here and meditate. I'll be fine."

"…Okay." Raven said. She faced forward and closed her eyes again. "Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos." She chanted while Danny slipped away.

/

"I can't believe we missed all of this yesterday." Danny said to himself as he struggled to carry an armful of various fruits. The trees were practically dripping with fruit. Danny couldn't help himself and ate a good many before carrying as much as he could back to Raven.

As he walked he thought about how things had changed between them. He wasn't sure when things had changed, but they had. Danny's lips were still tingling from earlier, he had been in too much pain to register it but it hit him full force now. He knew that it was a life-saving procedure, but he had enjoy the sensation. Maybe one day, it would be for real.

Danny shook his head. Who was he kidding? Raven didn't look like a girl who easily expressed emotion. Now that her powers were back, the chance of a real kiss seemed out of the question. Danny was cut out of his musings when he heard a twig snap behind him. He turned and was pleased to see Raven. Her hood was up and he couldn't quite see her eyes, but he was happy to see her anyway.

"You're done meditating." He said with a smile.

Raven nodded curtly. "I finished early and decided to follow you." She said.

Danny handed her an apple. "Here, once you finish with this we can start trekking again." He said.

Raven held up her hand. "I'm not hungry any more. Let's just get going."

Danny's smile faded at her curt tone. He felt like he was back to square one. "Right." He said straightening out. "Let's go."

If Danny had bothered to spare a quick look at Raven while they walked, he would have noticed the sinister, fang smirk on her lips. If he had looked even closer, he would have noticed that his skin was a paler gray than usual.

/

Meanwhile, a slightly ticked off violet eyed Raven was starting to get worried. Danny should have been back by now.


	7. The Sincerest Form of Flattery

Dear readers,

Thanks to all of you who have kept up with this story. That means all of you who have reviewed, followed and favorite. A special thanks to **DriftingGem** for adding me to his/her community. I also thank all of you who read **Inevitability.** I'm revising the second installment of the series (which is completely unrelated to Live!) and I've added a lot more bulk to it.

Now, for the reviews!

 **UltimateTouken:** The title should answer your question.

 **Shugokage:** Thank you! Your words mean a lot!

 **Guntherson962:** Good luck on your beta hunt! And no, this won't end very well for Danny. Or Raven, for that matter. It won't be a total tragedy though.

Once again, a big shout-out to my beta **Rosalind2013**! She rocks!

The title of this chapter is an anonymous quote. I couldn't find any movie quotes that weren't directly Star Wars related.

And now, another episode of….. _Live!_

The Sincerest Form of Flattery is … Cloning?

"Glorious!" Starfire exclaimed, jumping ten feet into the air and flying little victory laps in the sky.

"Yeah dude!" Beast Boy said pumping his fists in the air, his previous fatigue completely forgotten. "Raven's alive! I knew she was too hard to do in! And now that she's got her powers, Control Freak is totally done for!"

"I say we get back to the Tower for a celebratory barbeque." Cyborg petitioned, earning him a glare from Beast Boy. "Don't look at me like that. You know I ain't cooking any of your nasty tofu stuff."

"C'mon Cy!" Beast Boy whined. "I'm too tired to cook," he replied, slumping for emphasis.

"You didn't look so tired a minute ago." Cyborg argued, referring to Beast Boy's earlier celebration.

"I was happy!"

"Please friends," Starfire said, hovering in between Beast Boy and Cyborg. "A great victory has been won today. Our friend has not perished. If the cooking of food is a problem, perhaps I can-"

"NO!" Beast Boy and Cyborg shouted in unison. When they noticed Starfire's shocked and slightly hurt expression they sighed.

"It's not a problem Star," Beast Boy said.

"Yeah," Cyborg agreed. "There's room on the grill for hamburgers and veggie burgers too," he said with a brief wince.

Starfire beamed. "Wonderful," she said. "What of you, friend Robin?"

Robin hadn't been listening to their conversation. Since the end of the episode he had been staring into the blank screen of his communicator, with his mouth turned down in a frown. It's not that he wasn't happy Raven and Danny were alive - he was. The reason for his frown stemmed from the last five minutes of the episode. It was obvious Control Freak had made a clone of Raven. He probably decided that trying to kill them both at the same time wouldn't work; it would be best to hit them one at a time. He would have gloated about it, but he was probably too embarrassed that his first plan had failed. The first thing that popped into Robin's mind was to think of a strategy to help get Raven and Danny out, before Control Freak succeeded.

"Friend Robin?" Starfire prompted again, placing a gentle hand on Robin's shoulder.

Robin shook his head and placed his communicator in his pocket. "I'm sorry Star, I didn't hear your question," he admitted.

"We were thinking of having a barbeque to celebrate friend Raven's success," Starfire replied cheerily.

"Oh, sure." Robin said.

The rest of the Titans sighed in relief. They thought Robin would switch straight into salvage mode, making them think of ways to help Danny and Raven until they had splitting headaches, as soon as they got to the Tower.

"But after that, we have to-"

"I don't want to hear it Rob," Cyborg interrupted, putting a hand up for Robin to stop. "You've been working us like dogs since this whole thing started."

"Yeah man," Beast Boy agreed. "We're all worried about Raven and we're glad she's alright, but were beat. We've been fighting for hours. We're useless if we don't take a break."

Robin's frown returned to his face, "Raven's fine for now. Are we just going to wait until she's in trouble again to start thinking of a way to help her?"

"No, we're not." Cyborg said firmly. "We're going to rest up and clear our heads. It's the best thing to do."

"I agree with friend Cyborg," Starfire said, speaking up for the first time in the conversation. "I fear I would not be very productive in my current state."

Robin sighed and ran a gloved hand through his hair. As much as he hated to admit it, his teammates were right. They had to rest. Even he was too tired to think straight. "Fine," Robin conceded. "We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow."

"Wonderful," Starfire exclaimed excitedly. "Now we need only think about how to get to the Tower. Which of you would like to ride on my back?"

/

There was a brief pause when the episode ended, during which all of Amity Park seemed to have frozen. Immediately afterwards, the city thundered with cheers that could be heard in the next town. In that instant, all the students rushed out of school completely ignoring any shouts for them to get back to their seats. Sam, Tucker and Jazz made a beeline straight for Fenton Works and managed to crash through the door at the same time.

"Mom! Dad!" Jazz shouted. "Danny's-" she stopped when she noticed that her parents weren't there.

"Where are they?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. I thought they would be partying by now or something." Tucker said.

"I know where they are," Jazz said. She moved to the basement door, careful not to step on any of the used tissues that littered the floor, and opened it wide. Jazz rushed down the short staircase, eager to tell her parents the good news. Sam and Tucker followed closely behind. Jazz immediately saw her parents. They were hunched over a lab table full of defective ecto-guns.

"Mom! Dad!" Jazz shouted as she hugged her mom.

Maddie looked up from the device she was working on and pulled her goggles up. "Jazz honey, what's gotten into you? Aren't you supposed to be in school?" she asked.

"Didn't you see it?! Danny's alive!" Jazz said excitedly, releasing her mother.

"We know that, Jazzy-pants," Jack said. "That's why we're down here."

"What are you working on?" Sam asked picking up the ecto-gun and examining it.

"Be careful with that Sam," Maddie warned. "It's a live gun." She carefully placed the gun back on the lab table.

"Aren't you excited?" Tucker asked. "Danny's okay."

"We are excited, dear. We just thought it would be best for us to come down to the lab and tweak some of our old weapons. Try and get the creative juices flowing so we could think of a way to help Danny," Maddie explained.

"I wanted to throw a party – with lots and lots of fudge- but no." Jack grumbled.

"So, what have you come up with?" Jazz asked.

"Not much I'm afraid," Maddie said with a sigh. "We really do want to help Danny. We're so sick of moping around, but we just can't think of anything."

"Why don't you ask the Titans?" Sam suggested.

"Yeah," Tucker agreed. "I'm sure they'll appreciate the help of two genius inventors."

"That's a great idea!" Jack exclaimed. "Glad I thought of it."

Tucker frowned. "But you didn't-"

"I'll call them right now," Maddie said as she left.

Maddie hummed slightly as she dialed in the number to the secure line to call Robin. She wasn't quite sure how this would turn out. The Titans were a capable team and she was sure they could handle the situation on their own. She just felt she couldn't sit back and do nothing for her son. Finally, Robin answered.

"Hello? Mrs. Fenton?" he asked.

"Yes Robin." Maddie answered. "How are you all coming along?" she asked.

"All is well with us friend!" A different, more feminine voice said.

"Yeah Mrs. F. We're just chilling."

Robin's authoritative voice came back on, "Sorry about that. I have you on speaker."

"What are you doing?" Maddie asked intrigued.

"We're just resting," Robin answered. "Villains have been attacking us since dawn broke, and we only just got back to the Tower. We honestly just need to catch our breath."

Maddie gave a small smile. They really did behave like normal teenagers. Maybe they had a point.

"Is there anything you wanted?" Robin asked.

"No, no. Nothing at all." Maddie answered shaking her head. "Have fun kids. Bye."

She gently placed the receiver down and sighed. She really hoped Danny would forgive her for what she was about to do. "Jack!" she yelled. "Break out the fudge! We're having a party!"

"YES!"

/

Danny really wanted Raven to slow her pace. They had been trekking since she abruptly woke him up, as soon as the sky began to lighten. He had woken up to the same environment of the sparse forest and voiced his unease to Raven. She had just shrugged off his concern without a word, and started walking at a near running pace. That, and the fact that Danny always managed to get his feet caught in stray vines, made it very difficult to keep up with her. Eventually, he gained some common sense and started floating after her.

He wished she would talk to him. When she was paralyzed she wasn't much of a talker. Danny almost always had to initiate the conversation, but this was just ridiculous. She hadn't said a single word to him since the day before. He figured that since her powers were back, she would put a leash on how much emotion she expressed, but he didn't think that it merited her going completely mute. He had tried to get a conversation going and had been met with silence every time. Danny figured one more try wouldn't hurt him.

"Are you sure this is the direction of the light I saw?" he asked. That question had been nagging at him since they started walking the day before. Raven hadn't mentioned it and Danny had lost his bearings after their whole ordeal.

"Yes," she answered almost mechanically, a far cry from her normal monotone.

"Are you okay?" Danny asked hovering in front of her, effectively stopping her in her tracks. "Your voice sounds…different." He tried to peer through her hood – she hadn't taken it off since yesterday – to see her eyes, but he couldn't make them out.

"I'm fine." She relayed. "I just want to get out of here as soon as possible." She brushed past him rather roughly and continued walking at her quick pace.

Danny cut in front of her again. "I want to get back home too." He said. "My parents are probably worried sick about me, not to mention my sister and best friends." He tried to look at her eyes again, but she had lowered her head, causing the hood to cover her eyes even more. "I think the trip would be much more enjoyable if we could talk, like we used to."

Raven didn't say anything and attempted to walk past him again. Danny stopped her by gripping her arm tightly. "I'm not going to let you-" he was cut off when Raven suddenly grabbed his forearm, and slammed him onto the forest floor hard enough to daze him. From his angle on the floor, he finally took a look at Raven. Her irises were a dull red and her normal pale skin had lost much of its pallor. "You're not Raven," he accused, narrowing his eyes.

The clone smiled wickedly, and before he could recover, she leaped on top of him and clasped her hands around his neck, choking him. Danny swiftly sent a knee into her abdomen. Scrambling back to his feet, he had enough time to get into a battle stance before the clone sent another punch flying towards him. The boy knocked the fist off course with a flick of his wrist; he was no novice to combat. She attempted to send a kick to his gut, but it never connected, as Danny lunged to the side. The kick was a decoy, however, and he was suddenly looking straight at an approaching roundhouse. Given the fact that this wasn't the real Raven; Danny fired an ecto-ray from his palm at the oncoming leg. The leg melted off, and the clone paused for a minute; teetering on one leg. Danny stood triumphantly, albeit a little grossed out. This wasn't going to be a hard fight.

He groaned when he saw the clone's leg begin to regenerate. The clone stared back at him, the same wicked smile on the face that should be Raven's. Reassuming his battle stance, Danny charged again.

/

Raven's irritation melted into worry as soon as the sun came up. It was obvious that something had happened to Danny, there was no way he could have gotten lost and not found her by now. She had tried many times already to track his aura, but something in the environment was messing with her detection abilities. So she started tracking him the old fashioned way, following the footprints he left on the forest floor.

Raven rubbed her stomach absentmindedly. She hadn't eaten anything for three days now. The gnawing ache in her stomach was starting to affect her focus and her grip on her powers. She hoped Danny hadn't gotten himself into too much trouble. She probably wouldn't be able to do much before losing control and-

Raven shook her head. She would not lose control. She would not turn into _that_. She forced herself to focus on Danny's footprints. They seemed rushed; he had bumped into a lot of foliage, which was something he had never done when Raven was paralyzed. It was obvious that he was running. Raven saw another set of prints before his, shaped oddly like the soles of her boots. Raven's mouth turned down in a frown, that wasn't a good sign.

She was surprised when Danny suddenly came flying through the foliage and slammed right into a tree next to her. He delayed in getting up and he frowned when he saw her. "That was a dirty punch," he growled.

"What are you talking about?" Raven asked lowering her hood.

Danny's eyes widened. "Raven! It's you!" he exclaimed.

"Of course it's me," she said. "Who else-" She was interrupted when Danny grabbed her arm and forced her to start running with him, away from the direction he came flying from.

"We have to get out of here!" Danny said with urgency.

"What are we running from?" Raven asked. As an answer, a heavy weight landed on her and knocked her onto the ground. She looked up and saw Danny wrestling with a clone of her.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" she exclaimed. She extended an arm and the hand glowed with black energy. The clone was encased in the same energy and was sent flying off of Danny and hurtling into a thick tree with a dull thud. Raven remained on the ground, her head reeling. Her hunger was worse than she had originally thought. She felt angered at her weakness.

Danny ran over to her, helping her up. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine." Raven said rubbing her temples and chanting her mantra in her mind. Slowly, the dizziness began to fade.

Danny suddenly pushed her away, sending her sprawling to the floor again as the clone came back and tackled him. Danny wanted nothing more than to just blast the clone into nothingness, but the real Raven was here. He was beginning to think it would have been a good idea to tell her his secret from day one. The clone landed a hard punch to his jaw that left him stunned. It then took advantage of his dazed state and made its way over to Raven.

"Stay back," Raven warned in a low voice. She was kneeling on the ground, head placed against the cool forest floor as she fought to still the relentless spinning in her head. "I'm warning you." The clone laughed and kept advancing. "Stay. Away." Raven insisted. She gripped the ground, trying to stabilize herself. She was losing control of her powers. She couldn't let that happen. She wouldn't let that happen. If only that irritating clone would just _stay away_.

The clone moved to stand over her and yanked back on Raven's cloak, hard. Raven's head snapped back and the clone gasped and took a few steps backward when it noticed Raven's two pairs of glowing red eyes. Raven's lips turned up in a wide, wicked, grin that was laced with sharp fangs. "I warned you." She said in a scratchy, echoing voice. The clone turned, in a futile effort to run away, but the half-demon halted it with a simple raised hand.

She stood up, and the doppelganger looked on in terror as she began to grow taller, the threatening grin still in place. Using her magic, she brought the clone close to her face. "Where do you think you're going? We're just about to have a little fun." At that, Raven used her magic to suspend the clone in the air, spread-eagled. She applied pressure on all its limbs, stretching them to the limit. The clone let out a loud, agonized scream.

Danny had recovered from the punch long ago, and stood observing the scene with wide eyes. He found himself shuddering in horror at the thing Raven had become. She obviously wasn't herself; he had to snap her out of it. "Raven!" he yelled. "Stop!"

Raven turned to him, all her four eyes glowing red. She frowned, and with a passive wave of her hand the clone exploded, raining grey goo everywhere. She started to advance towards Danny, the same wicked grin on her face. "Oh. You want to join in the fun too?" she asked in that same wicked tone, pitch-black tentacles extending from her cloak and wrapping around Danny.

Danny shuddered at the cold, empty feeling of the tentacles, but forced himself to stand his ground. "Raven, I don't know what's happening to you, but you have to come back! This isn't who you are!" he shouted.

"Foolish boy," she cooed. "This is exactly what she is, what she will become, who she will releas-"

"No it's not!" Danny interrupted. "Not if she has any say in it."

Raven's frown deepened, and she blinked hard. When she opened her eyes, they had returned to a normal violet. She gasped and instantly released Danny, who fell to the floor with a thud. Danny watched as the black tentacles went back into her cloak and she began to shrink in size. When she returned to normal she gripped her head, swaying unstably.

Danny had just enough time to catch her before she hit the ground, unconscious.

/

Danny added more wood to the fire as he watched Raven sleep. She had been asleep for hours; night had fallen a long time ago. He had wrapped her cloak around her in a makeshift blanket and lit a fire, to help her stay warm. She looked so peaceful when she was sleeping, so harmless – fragile even. Danny was finding it extremely hard to believe what had happened earlier.

Maybe Raven was possessed? Maybe a ghost had followed them here and taken overshadowed her without him noticing. Maybe that was why she had been paralyzed. That would mean the ghost now had access to her powers, now had the ability to turn her into that. Danny knew it was far-fetched. He doubted that someone like Raven could even be possessed. Still, he refused to believe that it had actually been Raven who mercilessly tortured the clone, and then threatened to torture him.

Raven gave a small smile and shifted in her sleep, but did not wake.

Danny blamed himself. If he had been frank with her from day one and told her he was Phantom, they could have avoided all this. Heck, they could even be in their homes by now. He knew she was an experienced hero, maybe even more than he himself. He just couldn't help feeling bad that she had to go through all of this. The paralysis, the loss of her powers, and now _this_.

He added another twig into the fire and watched the dry leaves on it burn slowly. Eventually though, his eyes flickered back up to her sleeping face. He was done keeping secrets. He would tell her the truth when she woke up. Question is, how would he do it?

Raven groaned suddenly and sat up, gripping her head. She disentangled herself from her cloak and looked into the fire, but not at Danny.

"There's a few apples by you," Danny said. "I figured you'd be hungry."

"Thank you." Raven mumbled. She picked up one of the apples and examined it in her hand, not eating it. "I suppose you expect an explanation for what happened," she murmured.

"Not really."

Raven looked up at him, locking eyes. "What?" she asked.

Danny rubbed the back of his neck, trying to find the right words to say. "You've got a secret, I respect that. If you share it with someone, it should be because you want to. Not because you feel like you owe it to them." He said picking his words carefully. "You don't owe me an explanation, you don't even owe me an apology. This environment took its toll on you. I know that. I accept that. There's nothing more for you to say."

Raven held his gaze for a long time. "Thank you." She said simply, a small smile gracing her lips.

"Don't thank me yet." Danny said, growing nervous. This was it, he was going to tell her. "There's actually a secret I've been-"

"Save it." Raven said, holding a hand up for him to stop talking. "You let me keep my secret, you get to keep yours."

"You don't understand." Danny protested. "I _want_ to tell you."

"Well, I won't listen." Raven said taking a bite of the apple. "I'm trying to reciprocate your kindness here. Don't make it more difficult than it needs to be. You can tell me later, if you're still dead-set on it then."

Danny put his head in his hands and gave a long sigh. He finally got up the courage to tell Raven his secret and she would hear nothing of it. Danny lifted his head out of his hands and looked at Raven over the fir. He decided that he could wait.

"Sounds like a plan," he said.

"Good." Raven said. She held out one of the apples to him. "Want one?"

Danny accepted the fruit, and for a while there was nothing but silence as they ate and stared into the glowing flames. Danny shivered when a cold breeze blew by. The temperature suddenly dropped by several degrees and an icy wind came with it. He didn't normally feel much cold, his ice core was probably the cause of that, but since he hadn't gone ghost in so long, it was probably weakened.

Raven noticed his shivering. "Cold?" she asked.

Danny nodded and moved closer to the fire, rubbing his arms. "A little." He said.

Raven pursed her lips. "We can share my cloak, if you want." She offered.

Danny looked at her in surprise. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to invade your personal space or anything." He said.

"It's no big deal," Raven said with a passive wave of her hand. "Beast Boy does it all the time when we go on missions in colder regions. I never let him do it for long, not when he can morph into a creature that is more resistant to cold. You only have a t-shirt and jeans," she stated.

Danny realized she raised a good argument. It would be a waste of breath to argue with her. Danny stood up and walked over to her side of the fire. Raven opened up her cloak in invitation. Awkwardly, Danny sat next to her and wrapped his end of her cloak over his shoulders, almost sighing with relief when he was filled with warmth. They continued to eat, not speaking as they stared into the fire.

He and Raven were brushing shoulders each time one of them moved, sending little shocks down Danny's arm. He snuck a glance at Raven's face, but the stony expression betrayed no sign that she felt what he did. The light of the fire illuminated her face, making her pale skin glow and her deep violet eyes dance. Danny tore his eyes away from her face, blushing.

"I don't want to forget you," Raven said suddenly.

"What?" Danny asked, surprised.

Raven bent her head down and focused on the fire, instead of Danny's face. "When this is all over, you go back to Illinois and I go back to California," she elaborated. "It's just that you've been a good…friend through this all. I don't want to forget about you." The sorceress's face was unreadable, but he saw a little glimmer of emotion in her eyes.

The blush returned to Danny's face, and he found himself staring at the fire too. "I – uh – sure. I mean, the feeling's mutual. I don't want to forget about you either. I don't even think I could," he admitted truthfully. He suddenly had an idea, and turned his gaze to her with renewed excitement, "Maybe we could visit each other?"

"I doubt I could visit you," Raven replied. "The crime rate is so high in Jump City it's astonishing. I don't think I'd get the time."

Danny's face slackened. "Oh," he said.

Raven caught his dismayed tone and immediately began backtracking. "But," she said quickly. "I'm not against a little late night teleportation when everyone's asleep. It should be daytime in Illinois by then anyway."

Danny gave a small smile. "I'd like that," he replied, feeling as if his words were a bit of an understatement. "Anything to keep in touch."

Raven nodded. She'd like that too.

/

Maddie slowly turned off the TV and turned to face the trio of teenagers that sat in the couch with her. "Since when can Danny fire ecto-blasts from his fists?" she asked calmly.

Sam, Tucker and Jazz fidgeted. "Um, maybe it's another side effect from the portal accident?" Jazz offered.

"Uh, yeah." Sam agreed. "I mean, it's only logical."

Tucker nodded furiously in agreement.

"That _would_ explain why all our ghost weapons keep acting up on him." Jack said.

Maddie pursed her lips. She didn't believe them one bit. They and Danny were obviously keeping a big secret. She was determined to find out what it was.


End file.
